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RECULATI^^^NS. 


8819 


THE  ANTEFIX  PAPERS. 


PAPERS 


Art  Educational  Subjects, 


REi^D  AT  THE  WEEKLY  MEETINGS  OF  THE 


MASSACHUSETTS  AI[T  Mjm^  ASSOCpON, 


BY  MEMBERS  AND  OTHERS  CONNECTED  WITH  THE 


MASSACHUSETTS  NORMAL  ART  SCHOOL. 


PRINTED 


BOSTON: 
FOR  PRIVATE  CIRCULATION. 
1875- 


COPYRIGHT. 
MASSACHUSETTS  ART  TEACHERS'  ASSOCIATION. 
1875. 


BOSTON : 
ALFRED  MUDGB  AND  SON,  PRINTERS. 


PREFACE 


The  papers  here  collected  were  written  by  many  earnest  workers  in  a 
cause  which  is  becoming  every  day  more  important  in  the  eyes  of  Americans. 
Knowing  my  deep  interest  in  that  cause,  the  members  of  the  Massachusetts 
Art  Teachers'  Association  have  charged  me  with  the  task  of  writing  a  short 
Preface  to  their  volume,  which  I  have  accepted,  though  quite  aware  of  its 
special  difficulties. 

To  write  a  preface  for  a  book  of  one's  own,  or  for  a  book  written  by  one 
author,  either  of  which  is  likely  to  be  uniform  in  thought  and  style,  would 
have  been  far  easier.  Seven  cities  claimed  to  have  given  birth  to  Homer, 
though  the  right  belonged  to  one  only ;  but  here  are  twenty  authors  who 
claim  to  have  produced  one  book,  and  each  with  reason.  Add  to  this  all  the 
authors  whom  they  have  separately  consulted,  as  being  therefore  rightful 
claimants  to  a  share  of  authorship,  and  the  amount  becomes  difficult  to 
calculate.  We  know  of  one  marble  group  made  by  three  Rhodian  sculptors 
in  ancient  times,  and  we  read  of  one  statue  constructed  after  the  Egyptian 
canon  at  a  still  earlier  time,  by  two  Greek  sculptors,  dimidium  dimidiumque, 
and  this  so  perfectly,  that  when  the  two  halves  were  brought  together,  they 
fitted  exactly.  So  also  we  have  modern  landscapes  painted  by  two  artists, 
this  one  having  put  in  the  trees,  skies,  and  water,  and  the  other  the  figures  ; 
and  we  have  books,  such  as  the  novels  of  Erckmann  and  Chatrian,  and 
histories  of  art  such  as  that  of  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle.  But  these  are 
very  simple  examples  of  the  division  of  labor  compared  to  this  furnished  by 
the  Antefix  Papers,  whose  authors  and  ante-authors,  like  the  loves  of  Don 
Giovanni,  number  "  cento  e  tre." 

Taking  into  account  that  authors  are  proverbially  sensitive,  it  is  important 
to  decide  how  to  speak  for  them  collectively  to  the  public,  so  as  to  content 
them  all.  I  look  in  vain  for  a  guiding  precedent.  Dr.  Daniel  Dove,  who 
catalogues  and  defines  all  sorts  of  prefaces  possible  to  be  written,  had  evi- 
dently never  heard  of  such  a  case.  He  defines  the  abject  preface,  in  which 
the  author  appears  with  a  halter  round  his  neck,  deprecating  criticism, — a 
style  of  procedure  not  suited  to  my  purpose  ;  for  how  can  I  be  sure  that  my 
clients  are  all  disposed  to  be  represented  in  so  humble  an  attitude  ?  The 
doctor  furthermore  explains  the  blustering  preface,  in  which  the  author 


iv 


Preface, 


endeavors  to  terrify  the  critics  into  silence  by  putting  a  bold  face  on  the  mat- 
ter, and  threatening  to  make  an  end  of  them  if  they  refuse  their  approval. 
This  sort  of  preface  seems  hardly  more  appropriate,  considering  that  many  of 
the  authors  of  this  book,  and  perhaps  all,  are  gentle  people,  who  have  labored 
to  the  best  of  their  ability,  and  only  ask  their  readers  to  judge  the  result 
kindly. 

*  The  best  preface  to  the  volume  will  perhaps  be  the  simple  statement,  that 
it  has  been  printed,  not  published,  for  the  use  of  its  authors,  and  of  students 
like  themselves  who  needed  information  in  a  compact  form,  on  a  variety  of 
technical  processes.  It  is  a  student's  book,  intended  to  be  useful  rather  than 
ornamental.  But  I  hear  a  wide-awake  critic  say,  "  If  this  be  so,  its  title  is 
a  misnomer."  An  antefix  is  an  ornamental  tile  of  marble  or  terra-cotta, 
placed  on  the  top  of  a  cornice  or  under  the  eaves  of  a  temple,  at  the  end  of  a 
ridge  of  tiling.  Quite  right  I  answer,  but  the  lions'  heads  carved  on  the 
upper  mouldings  of  a  cornice,  to  serve  as  spouts  to  carry  off  water,  were 
also  called  "  antefixae."  They  served  a  useful  purpose  like  these  papers, 
which  occupy  a  modest  place  outside  the  Temple  of  Art,  and  carry  off  the 
waters  of  accumulated  study  to  fertilize  waste  places. 

And  now,  a  word  about  the  why  and  how  they  were  written.  Their  subjects 
were  entered  by  the  supervisor  of  the  Normal  Art  Training  School,  upon  the 
examination  list  for  the  end  of  the  second  year.  The  information  needed 
by  each  student,  being  scattered  in  the  pages  of  many  books,  could  only  be 
obtained  by  a  great  amount  of  reading.  Time  was  wanting  for  each  one  to 
study  up  all  the  subjects,  so  that  it  was  wisely  decided  to  divide  the  labor  by 
allotting  one  subject  to  one  person,  who,  having  accomplished  his  task,  should 
read  a  paper  upon  it  before  the  Massachusetts  Art  Teachers'  Association 
for  the  common  benefit.  The  wish  was  then  expressed  that  all  the  papers 
should  be  collected  and  printed,  so  that  they  might  serve  a  future  as  well  as 
a  present  use. 

Now  that  the  reader  has  learnt  how  this  book  came  into  being,  he  will 
doubtless  be  inclined  to  regard  it  with  interest.  It  is,  indeed,  entitled  to 
consideration,  not  only  because  it  contains  a  great  deal  of  valuable  and  well- 
condensed  information,  but  also  because  it  is  the  work  of  men  and  women 
meanwhile  laboring,  under  every  disadvantage,  to  fit  themselves  to  be  art 
teachers.  When  we  think  of  the  palatial  halls  in  the  Normal  Schools  at  Vi- 
enna, or  of  the  admirably  adapted  rooms  in  which  art  students  work  in  many 
European  and  English  cities,  with  proper  ventilation,  good  light,  and  plenty 
of  space,  —  three  primal  necessities,  without  which  the  best  powers  cannot  be 
called  into  play,  and  know  that  even  these  are  denied  to  the  students  at  Pem- 
berton  Square  ;  when  we  remember  how  their  fellows  abroad  have  not  only 
such  physical  and  material  advantages,  but  that  they  are  also  surrounded 
with  an  abundant  supply  of  the  best  casts,  solid  models,  drawings,  photo- 
graphs, and  reproductions  of  all  kinds,  and  that  they  live  where  they  may  at 
any  moment  profit  by  the  splendid  works  of  art  collected  in  such  industrial 
museums  as  those  at  South  Kensington,  Vienna,  Nuremberg,  or  Munich,  and 


Preface, 


V 


in  such  galleries  as  the  Louvre,  the  National  Gallery,  the  British  Museum, 
the  Uffizi,  or  the  Pitti  Palace,  we  wonder,  not  only  that  our  Boston  students 
have  accomplished  so  much,  but  that  they  have  accomplished  anything  at  all. 
So  far  from  apologizing  for  what  they  have  not  done,  we  are  filled  with  admi- 
ration for  what  they  have  done,  and  wish  them  God-speed.  They  have 
proved  once  more  the  truth  of  that  most  encouraging  of  all  Latin  sayings, 
"  Nihil  est  quod  non  expugnet  pertinax  opera  et  intenta  ac  diligens  cura,"  — 
a  saying  which  all  know  in  its  well-worn  English  rendering,  "  Patience  and 
perseverance  conquer  all  things." 

c.  c.  p. 

Boston,  June  30,  1875. 


f 


% 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  The  Greatness  of  Great  Men.    Walter  Smith   i 

II.  Fresco,  Encaustic,  etc.    Chas.  C.  Perkins   i8 

III.  Color.  —  The  Origin  of  Pigments  and  their  Chemical 

Action   32 

IV.  Harmony  and  Contrast  of  Color   41 

V.  Harmony  and  Contrast  of  Color  {Continued)   46 

VI.  The  Application  of  Principles  of  Design  to  Cast  Metal 

Objects   51 

VII.  Design  as  applied  to  Wrought  Metal   56 

VIII.  Design  applied  to  Carved  Objects   66 

IX.  Design  applied  to  Printed  Fabrics   72 

X.  Principles  of  Design  as  applied  to  Woven  Fabrics. — 

Colored  Materials   75 

XI.  Flat  or  Surface  Decoration   91 

XII.  Water-Color  Painting   98 

XIII.  Tempera  Painting   105 

XIV.  Fresco  Painting   109 

XV.  Oil  Painting   116 

XVI.  Technical  Terms   122 

XVII.  Structural  Botany   124 

XVIII.  Botany  as  applied  to  Industrial  Art   135 

XIX.  Application  of  Ornament  to  Industrial  Purposes  ....  141 

XX.  Ornament  as  applied  to  Industrial  Purposes   150 

XXI.  Reproductive  Processes   157 

XXII.  The  Application  of  Photography  to  Engraving    ....  162 

XXIII.  Glass  —  Cast,  Cut,  and  Engraved   168 

XXIV.  Pottery  and  Porcelain   173 

XXV.  Historical  Ornament   179 

XXVI.  Historical  Ornament.  —  Middle  Age  Styles   185 

XXVII.  Historical  Ornament  {Continued)   193 

XXVIII.  Historic  Schools  of  Painting  down  to  the  Seventeenth 

Century   199 

XXIX.  Historic  Schools  of  Painting  {Continued)   212 

XXX.  Charcoal  Drawing.    Wm.  R.  Ware   223 


SOME  OF  THE  AUTHORITIES 

CONSULTED  IN  THE  PKEPARATION  OF  THESE  PAPERS. 


The  Grammar  of  Ornament.    By  Owen  Jones. 
Polychromatic  Ornament.    By  Racinet. 

Epochs  of  Painting  and  Analysis  of  Ornament.    By  Wornum. 
Vasari's  Lives. 

Kiigler's  Geschichte  der  Kunst. 

Field's  Chromotography  (old  and  new  edition). 

Ure's  Dictionary  of  Arts  and  Manufactures. 

Masury's  Manual  of  Painting. 

Dresser's  Principles  of  Decorative  Design, 

Principles  of  Design.    By  Garbett. 

Art  Education.    By  Walter  Smith. 

The  Works  of  Ruskin. 

Chevreul  on  Color. 

Chambers's  Encyclopaedia. 

Scott's  History  and  Practice  of  the  Fine  and  Ornamental  Arts, 

Wonders  of  Engraving.    By  George  Duplessis. 

The  World  of  Science,  Art,  and  Industry,  1853. 

The  History  of  Lace.    By  Mrs.  Bury  Palliser. 

Chefs  d'  CEuvre  of  Industrial  Arts.    By  Philippe  Burty. 

Fine  Art :  a  Sketch  of  Its  History,  etc.    By  M.  DiGBY  Wyatt. 

Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities. 

Iconographic  Encyclopaedia  of  Science  and  Art.    By  J.  G.  Heck. 

The  Report  on  Fresco  Painting  to  the  Commissioners  of  Fine  Arts.  By 

Chas.  H.  Wilson. 
Mrs.  Merrifield's  Art  of  Fresco  Painting. 
D  'Anvers's  Elementary  History  of  Art. 
Timbs's  Painting  and  Progress  of  Art. 
Goodwin's  Mural  Decoration. 

A  Treatise  on  Painting.    By  Cennino  Cennini.    Translated  by  Mrs.  Mer- 
rifield. 

Scott's  Half  Hour  Lectures  on  Art. 
Redgrave  on  Color,  etc. 

Hints  on  Household  Taste.    By  Chas.  L,  Eastlake. 
Metal  Work.    By  M.  Digby  Wyatt. 


THE  GREATNESS  OF  GREAT  MEN. 

The  position  which  I  occupy  in  this  school  prevents  my  giving  individual 
instruction  in  it ;  that  is  the  duty  of  the  professors  and  regular  instructors, 
and  my  duty  lies  in  directing  their  work  and  judging  of  its  results  by  exam- 
ining the  works  of  the  students.  It  is  recognized  that  the  teacher  cannot 
also  be  the  judge,  and  as  I  am  employed  here  to  be  the  latter,  I  cannot  be 
also  the  former. 

My  lectures  to  you,  therefore,  are  on  general  topics,  not  on  details  of 
your  education,  rather  on  principles  which  will  affect  all  the  question.  I  have 
been  accustomed  to  lecture  in  this  way  to  the  students  of  the  Normal  Art 
School,  of  which  I  was  the  principal  before  coming  to  reside  in  this  country. 
One  lecture  given  to  them  was  on  "  the  greatness  of  great  men,"  and  that  is 
what  I  propose  to  give  to  you  to-day. 

I  shall  not  apologize  to  you  because  all  its  incidents  are  English,  for  you 
belong  to  the  same  race  as  the  men  talked  about.  Though  I  am  not 
an  American,  I  don't  consider  myself  a  foreigner  here.  We  are  all  Anglo- 
Saxons,  under  whatever  sun  or  form  of  government.  In  England,  an 
American  or  Australian  is  never  described  as  a  foreigner,  though  born  thou- 
sands of  miles  away ;  yet  a  Frenchman  or  Belgian,  who  lives  thirty  miles  off 
across  the  channel,  is  always  a  foreigner.  The  Australian  government  is  as 
different  from  the  English  as  is  the  American,  but  the  people  are  of  one  race  ; 
and  an  Englishman  in  London  who  spoke  of  an  Australian  as  a  foreigner, 
would  inevitably  be  reproved,  and  deservedly. 

This  statement  now  made,  is  not  made  for  the  purpose  of  bidding  for  pop- 
ularity, or  to  impress  you  with  the  belief  that  I  wish  to  assume  a  relationship 
to  you  I  am  not  entitled  to.  When  American  ideas  are  strong  enough  to 
turn  me  into  an  American,  they  can  do  it,  but  meanwhile  I  shall  neither  help 
nor  hinder  the  transformation.  You  must  therefore  regard  this  lecture  as 
having  been  made  to  inspire  with  some  right  ideas  the  art  students  of  whose 
education  I  had  the  charge  before  the  invitation  was  given  me  to  come  here. 
Four  years  of  residence  here  have  not  changed  my  opinions,  nor  altered  histor- 
ical facts  ;  and  I  therefore  submit  to  you  the  lecture  I  am  about  to  give,  as 
being  as  applicable  to  you  as  it  was  to  your  representatives  across  the  water. 

The  subject  I  have  chosen  to  lecture  upon  to  you  to-night  is  one  that  is 


2 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


difficult  to  talk  sensibly  about  for  the  space  of  an  hour  and  a  half,  and  I  hope 
if  what  I  have  to  say  should  prove  too  lamentably  the  truth  of  this  state- 
ment, you  will  extend  to  me  your  kindly  indulgence,  and  regard  my  efforts 
only  as  a  dry  preface  to  a  delightful  study,  a  sort  of  rude  finger-post,  point- 
ing the  way  where  there  are  pleasant  paths  and  mental  pastures  ever  fragrant 
and  fresh. 

That  which  has  engaged  the  most  loving  literary  efforts  of  many  great 
writers  and  thinkers,  who  even  in  the  pithiest  and  tersest  manner  have  written 
volumes  upon  the  subject,  either  as  discourses  on  Representative  Men,  or 
lectures  on  heroes  and  hero-worship,  cannot  be  more  than  lightly  touched 
upon  by  me  in  a  lecture  of  ninety  minutes  ;  but  if  I  can  awaken  in  you  an 
interest  which  prompts  you  to  become  more  intimately  acquainted  with  the  true 
greatness  of  great  men,  neither  your  time  nor  mine  will  have  been  wholly 
wasted. 

It  is  said  that  a  man  may  be  known  by  the  company  he  keeps  ;  and  if  there 
is  any  truth  in  this  statement,  it  will  be  well  for  us  to  keep  the  very  best  com- 
pany, not  only  physically,  but  mentally  and  spiritually  also,  not  necessarily 
for  the  purposes  of  imitation,  for  no  man  can  imitate  another  if  he  has  much 
character  of  his  own,  but  rather  that  there  may  be  for  us  high  standards  of 
excellence  supporting  that  which  may  be  good  in  us,  to  counteract  evil 
examples  with  which  we  are  continually  surrounded,  and  which  are  calculated 
to  develop  the  faults  and  weaknesses  of  our  nature,  the  earthiness  that  we  all 
have. 

For  these  reasons  I  have  thought  that  you  might  not  object  to  consider 
with  me  the  characteristics  of  some  noble  and  great  men  of  past  ages,  or 
even  of  the  present  age,  for  the  race  is  happily  not  yet  extinct,  convinced  that 
even  if  I  tell  you  nothing  that  is  new,  I  may  be  able  at  least  to  tell  you  some- 
thing that  is  true. 

At  the  outset  arises  the  question,  What  is  greatness  ?  which  reminds  us  of 
the  Philosopher's  introduction  to  an  essay  on  Truth. 

"'What  is  Truth,'  said  jesting  Pilate,  and  waited  not  for  an  answer,"  — 
and  the  probability  is  that  had  Pilate  stopped  to  discuss  the  question  with  his 
would-be  teacher,  they  would  have  hopelessly  differed  on  the  subject  under 
discussion  beginning  at  the  definition  of  Truth.  And  Truth  itself  does  seem 
to  be  to  us  merely  the  measure  of  our  knowledge  and  not  a  fixed  quantity ; 
for  in  the  time  of  Joshua  people  believed  that  the  sun  did  not  stand  still,  a 
belief  which  has  for  some  years  been  ridiculed  through  the  discovery  of  later 
Philosophers  that  the  sun  is  a  stationary  body  ;  and  now  that  many  strong- 
minded  persons  have  scoffed  at  the  Holy  Scriptures  because  of  Joshua's 
command  to  the  sun  to  stand  still,  the  last  generation  of  Philosophers  have 
in  a  more  recent  age  discovered  that  the  sun  is  not  stationary,  but  moves  in 
its  own  orbit,  as  it  did  in  the  time  of  Joshua. 

There  may  be  an  equal  difference  of  opinion  as  to  what  is  and  what  is  not 
greatness  amongst  ourselves,  just  as  doctors  and  philosophers  disagree  ;  and 
it  is  certain  that  successive  generations  of  men  hold  very  different  opinions 
concerning  the  men  who  have  preceded  them.    We  should  not  in  this  age 


The  Greatness  of  Great  Men. 


3 


hang  the  dead  body  of  Cromwell  upon  the  tree  at  Tyburn,  nor  burn  the  bones 
of  Wycliffe  forty  years  after  they  were  buried.  But  the  men  who  did  these 
things  were  lovers  of  truth  and  greatness,  though  terribly  in  earnest,  and 
believed  that  they  were  meting  out  righteous  retribution  to  the  carrion  they 
destroyed  ;  whilst  some  of  us  now  should  regard  their  hanging  and  burning 
as  the  acts  of  savage  fanatics  towards  two  great  men,  who  were  in  advance 
of  the  age  which  so  treated  them. 

Perhaps  on  the  debatable  ground  of  poHtics  and  religion  men  differ  about 
their  leaders  through  their  feehngs  and  passions  ;  if  they  disagreed  only 
through  their  reason  or  knowledge,  they  might  differ  without  quarrelling  and 
be  willing  to  recognize  greatness,  even  when  the  stamp  of  it  was  not  of  their 
own  trade-mark. 

I  will  ask  you  to  consider  the  different  ways  in  which  greatness  manifests 
itself  to  us.  —  It  may  be, 

ist.  The  possession  of  ordinary  human  faculties  or  accomplishments  in 
an  extraordinary  degree  of  development ;  or  — 

2d.    The  possession  of  uncommon  faculties  or  accomplishments  ;  or  — 

3d.  The  possession  of  an  unusual  combination  of  characteristics,  admi- 
rable in  themselves. 

And  it  may  be  asserted  broadly  that  the  final  test  by  which  greatness  is  to 
be  judged,  is  that  it  has  been  exercised  for  the  instruction,  wholesome 
pleasure,  or  happiness  and  benefit  of  mankind  ;  if  it  does  not  stand  that  test 
it  descends  from  the  rank  of  true  greatness  and  becomes  merely  local  impor- 
tance, temporary  popularity,  fashionable  homage  of  the  day  or  the  hour, 
party  prominence  or  sectarian  distinction,  all  of  which  are  as  the  grass  which 
withereth  and  the  flower  that  fadeth. 

No  age  is  competent  to  decide  on  the  greatness  of  living  men,  —  Time  alone 
which  tests  their  work  can  do  that,  — for  time,  like  another  ordeal  of  which 
we  are  sometimes  reminded  by  our  pastors  and  masters,  tries  the  work  of  all 
men,  as  it  were,  by  fire,  out  of  which  some  of  it  comes  a  mere  handful  of 
black  ashes  which  the  winds  of  heaven  scatter  in  undistinguishable  atoms,  so 
that  the  place  thereof  shall  know  them  no  more  ;  whilst  the  work  of  great 
men  will  be  like  the  vases  of  the  Etruscan  potter,  —  the  redder  the  fire 
glows,  the  harder  becomes  the  metal  and  the  brighter  the  colors  ;  and  the  more 
the  furnace  is  heated,  the  more  permanently  is  the  work  preserved  to  a  dis- 
tant posterity  of  admirers. 

Thus  you  will  see  that  I  regard  the  element  of  greatness  in  great  men  as  a 
different  thing  altogether  to  the  greatness  of  great  sinners,  or  the  largeness 
of  big  bodies  ;  which  are  either  intensity  of  habit,  or  magnitude  in  the  aggre- 
gation of  atoms. 

It  is  not  of  necessity  importance  or  distinction,  for  many  important  and 
distinguished  men  will  never  be  considered  great.  George  the  Fourth  was 
a  distinguished  and  Lord  Palmerston  was  an  important  personage,  and  neither 
will  ever  be  considered  great. 

Nor  is  it  often  allied  to  perfection  of  life  or  manners,  for  the  greatest  men 
have  been  fallible,  very  human  in  their  weaknesses,  and  sometimes  very  simple. 


4 


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Neither  does  popularity,  however  intense,  give  us  sign  or  proof  of  great- 
ness ;  least  of  all  will  the  most  exalted  dignity  of  official  position,  or  the 
profoundest  depths  of  learning,  give  a  man  right  of  themselves  to  the  title  of 
a  great  man. 

The  importance  to  us  of  great  men  is  that  they  fix  a  standard  of  excellence, 
show  us  what  is  possible.  That  which  common  men  attempt,  great  men 
attain  ;  therefore  it  behooves  us  to  study  their  characters,  that  we  may,  if 
possible,  learn  the  secret  of  their  success.    What  is  this  secret  t 

The  secret  of  great  men  is  that  there  is  no  secret  at  all,  and  this  is  a  secret 
which,  though  proclaimed  upon  the  house-tops  before  multitudes  of  hearers, 
will  then  always  be  believed  to  be  a  secret,  and  for  no  better  reason  than  that 
it  is  the  easiest  and  most  plausible  way  of  explaining  the  ditference  that  we 
see  to  exist  between  ourselves  and  those  we  acknowledge  to  be  great.  If  we 
would  fairly  and  honestly  take  to  the  acknowledgment  also,  that  whilst  we 
have  slept  great  men  have  worked,  whilst  we  have  been  self-indulgent  and 
prone  to  luxury,  they  have  been  self-denying  and  inured  to  hardships,  we 
should  lose  something  in  the  good  opinion  we  have  of  ourselves,  but  we 
should  gain  a  great  deal  in  self-knowledge,  and  dispel  a  mystery  which  should 
be  no  mystery  at  all. 

There  seems  to  be  common  elements  of  character  in  all  great  men,  almost 
the  identical  basis  of  character  in  one  as  in  the  other,  the  different  vocations 
explaining  any  minor  differences  that  are  to  be  found  in  them. 

Thus,  I  find  precisely  the  same  features  in  the  characters  of  Michael 
Angelo  and  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  two  men  living  three  centuries  apart, 
in  different  countries,  one  a  great  artist  and  the  other  a  great  warrior.  In 
them,  as  in  every  instance  I  have  yet  studied,  the  distinguishing  feature  is 
an  intense  love  of  work,  —  work  of  the  kind  that  fell  to  the  lot  of  each  to  do. 
Another  feature  is  indomitable  courage,  and  the  last  is  a  never-dying 
perseverance. 

Though  I  have  carefully  studied  the  histories  of  many  of  the  greatest  men, 
in  order,  if  I  could,  to  discover  the  source  of  their  greatness,  I  have  never 
yet  come  upon  one  great  life  that  has  lacked  these  three  features,  — love  of 
work,  unfailing  courage,  perseverance. 

And  this  leads  me  to  express  the  opinion  that  the  only  reliable  sign  or  indi- 
cation of  genius  is  eagerness  for  and  love  of  work,  as  a  basis  ;  and  whether 
this  genius  will  ever  become  developed  to  maturity  will  depend  greatly  upon 
V  the  other  two  features,  —  courage  and  perseverance,  —  though,  of  course, 
something  depends  upon  health. 

It  is  undoubted  that  both  in  literature  and  art  the  greatest  have  been  the 
most  prolific,  that  is,  have  been  the  greatest  workers  before  they  became  the 
greatest  men  ;  and  had  they  not  been  the  greatest  workers  the  world  would 
never  have  known  them  as  the  greatest  men. 

I  was  struck  with  the  happy  way  in  which  this  truth  was  put,  in  a  quotation 
from  an  article  by  Andrew  Halliday,  which  I  will  reproduce,  as  bearing  upon 
the  question. 

"  There  is  no  royal  road  to  literary  success.    Don't  imagine  because  some 


The  Greatfiess  of  Great  Men. 


5 


writer  suddenly  attains  to  fame  that  he  has  achieved  it  by  a  single  coup. 
Make  inquiries,  and  you  will  find  in  every  case — there  is  scarcely  an  excep- 
tion to  this  rule  —  that  the  author  who  suddenly  bursts  upon  your  view  a  star 
of  the  first  magnitude  has  been  working  and  learning  and  strugghng  —  may- 
hap starving  —  for  years,  qualifying  himself  by  practice,  sometimes  in  the 
very  humblest  walks  of  literature.  Mr.  Dickens  was  famous  at  three-and- 
twenty,  but  for  many  years  before  his  celebrated  sketches  were  accepted 
by  the  '  Morning  Chronicle,'  he  had  been  qualifying  himself  for  authorship 
by  constant  practice  as  a  reporter  on  newspapers.  While  yet  a  boy  he  had 
led  a  life  of  close  apphcation  and  drudgery.  He  had  mastered  the  difficult 
art  of  shorthand  writing.  Before  he  became  a  great  author  he  was  one  of 
the  most  accomphshed  shorthand  writers  on  the  press.  Mr.  Thackeray  had 
reached  middle  age  before  he  made  himself  known  to  the  public.  He  had 
tried  and  tried  again,  first  with  his  pencil,  then  with  his  pen,  and  had  felt  the 
smart  of  many  failures.  After  he  became  famous  as  a  novelist  he  tried  his 
hand  at  a  play,  which,  though  indorsed  with  the  great  name  of  Thackeray, 
no  manager  would  accept  —  because  it  was  not  actable.  John  Philip  ground 
colors  and  painted  signboards  before  his  pictures  reached  the  line  in  the 
Royal  Academy." 

Another  feature  which  seems  equally  common  to  great  men  of  all  ranks 
and  professions,  is  that  failure  does  not  discourage  them.  There  is  a  certain 
amount  of  failure  to  be  gone  through  in  everything  before  success  becomes 
a  matter  of  certainty.  Unless  we  exhaust  the  sources  of  failure  a  supply  will 
always  be  ready  to  our  hand,  and  if  we  set  down  with  tearful  eyes  and  lamen- 
tations surrounded  by  our  mistakes  and  overwhelmed  by  them,  we  shall 
never  rise  above  them,  so  that  courage  and  perseverance  are  also  necessary  to 
greatness,  —  whilst  failures  and  mistakes  are  just  as  much  characteristic  of 
greatness  in  the  first  stages,  as  of  littleness,  —  only  greatness  perseveres 
and  overcomes,  whilst  littleness  loses  heart  and  fails. 

When  George  Stephenson  undertook  to  make  a  railway  across  Chat  Moss, 
a  swampy  bog  which  swallowed  everything  that  was  put  upon  it,  most  of  the 
engineers  of  the  day  said  it  never  could  be  done.  Stephenson,  who  under- 
took to  do  it,  showed  by  his  undertaking  the  work  that  he  had  decided  it 
could  be  done.  He  commenced  by  throwing  in  thousands  of  tons  of  dry 
rubbish,  which  seemed  to  sink  down  and  settle  apparently  oat  of  sight,  without 
in  the  least  degree  affecting  the  solidity  of  the  mass.  It  seemed  like  throw- 
ing a  handful  of  sand  in  a  bucketful  of  water  ;  and  whilst  overlookers  and 
foremen  and  directors  of  the  railway  watched  in  despair,  other  engineers 
chuckled  with  delight  that  at  last  the  Newcastle  pitman  had  been  beaten. 
He  was  urged  to  abandon  the  project  as  impossible  ;  but  great  men  don't  do 
that  sort  of  thing,  and  Stephenson  was  a  great  man.  He  went  on  with  the 
result  inevitable  to  perseverance  and  knowledge ;  the  swamp  was  made  into 
a  good  road,  and  was  afterwards  considered  the  strongest  and  safest  part  of 
the  line. 

Here  was  a  case  where  the  wheeling  of  a  few  extra  barrowfuls  of  earth 
made  the  difference  between  success  and  failure  ;  only  it  took  the  heart  of  a 


6 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


great  man  to  do  it,  —  the  difference  between  greatness  and  littleness,  —  for  a 
less  man  than  Stephenson  would  have  abandoned  the  project,  as  everybody 
except  himself  was  willing  and  anxious  to  do,  but  he  was  made  of  a  different 
material  to  them,  and  that  material  triumphed  over  Chat  Moss. 

In  what  does  the  greatness  of  Turner  show  itself,  the  greatest  by  far  of 
English  artists  ?  Broadly  we  may  say  that  his  superiority  is  seen  in  two 
things  :  his  marvellous  powers  of  execution,  which  showed  his  success  as  a 
workman  ;  and,  secondly,  his  power  of  imagination. 

Now,  how  is  his  superiority  in  the  process  of  painting  explained  ?  I  think  if  it 
be  remembered  that  no  English  artist  ever  covered  so  much  surface  of  canvas 
and  paper  as  he  did,  or  left  behind  him  so  many  studies  of  effects  or  sketches 
of  pictures,  it  seems  to  me  we  need  go  no  further  to  inquire  why  he  was  a 
perfect  workman.    The  explanation  is  that  he  was  always  at  work. 

Then  as  to  his  imagination.  Imagination  is  simply  the  power  of  realizing 
in  the  mind  something  which  does  not  or  has  not  existed,  based  upon  a 
knowledge  of  that  which  either  has  existed,  does,  or  may  exist.  Imagination 
has  the  same  relation  to  knowledge  as  the  flower  has  to  the  seed. 

Now,  if  a  man's  knowledge,  as  shown  in  his  multitude  of  works,  be  almost 
perfect,  his  imagination,  based  on  his  knowledge,  comes  to  be  great  also  ; 
and  thus  we  have  Turner's  second  characteristic  springing  out  of  his  first 
imagination  from  knowledge,  and  knowledge  from  labor.  The  labor  came 
first.  As  a  youth  Turner  would  do  anything  pictorially  for  anybody  who 
would  pay  him  for  his  work.  An  architect  wished  a  sky  washed  in  a  per- 
spective drawing,  and  sent  it  to  a  lad  named  Turner,  who  would  do  it  for  five 
shillings.  A  stationer  had  an  order  to  tint  a  map,  and  the  barber's  son  was 
ready  and  willing  to  color  it  for  eighteenpence,  with  sixpence  extra  for  colors. 
Then  when  the  sky-painting  business  increased,  and  skies  in  his  hands 
became  more  celestial,  prices  rose,  and  Turner's  heavens  became  costly.  A 
neighbor  who  came  to  father  Turner's  shop  to  be  shaved,  would  ask  whether 
Joe  could  not  clean  and  brighten  up  a  little  picture  which  had  got  out  of 
order.  The  barber  could  not  tell,  but  would  call  his  son  down,  and  the  labo- 
rious youth  would  be  called  from  his  attic  den  to  examine  the  picture  or  draw- 
ing. Oh,  yes,  young  Turner  could  do  it,  or  anything  he  could  learn  something 
from  and  make  a  shilling  by. 

Then  came  drawing  for  the  illustrated  books,  which  was  a  mine  of  wealth 
to  him.  Then  pictures  and  colored  drawings  began  to  be  produced,  not  in 
twos  or  threes,  but  in  scores  and  hundreds,  whether  there  were  purchasers  or 
not,  some  bad,  some  indifferent,  and  some  good.  Still  and  forever  working 
and  progressing,  he  ended  a  career,  begun  in  obscurity,  terminated  in  world- 
wide celebrity,  starting  in  comparative  poverty,  finishing  by  leaving  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  million  of  money  sterling  to  his  nation  or  his  fellow-craftsmen, 
and  a  reputation  that  will  live  as  long  as  civilization  lasts  and  pictures  remain. 

I  take  this  instance  of  an  artist,  having  the  greatest  technical  skill  and  the 
subhmest  of  imaginations,  to  show  the  young  people  here  how  a  genius  is  made. 
The  usual  theory  is  that  if  he  be  an  artist  he  is  born  with  a  palette  on  his 
thumb,  at  once  producing  pictures  which  astonish  the  world,  and  that  he  is  a 


The  Greatness  of  Great  Men, 


7 


very  lucky  individual  for  whom  nature  does  so  much.  Nature,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  did  very  little  indeed  for  Turner ;  gave  him  a  very  insignificant  body,  no 
position  in  life  to  start  with,  no  great  or  brilliant  prospects  in  the  succession 
to  a  hair-cutting  business  ;  but  it  did  give  him  what  it  has  given  to  most  of 
us,  the  opportunity  to  work  as  hard  as  we  like,  and  he  seized  the  opportunity. 
The  five-shilling  skies  and  the  two-shilling  maps  were  all  opportunities,  and 
he  took  them,  and,  doing  them  honestly,  —  most  likely  a  good  deal  better  than 
he  was  paid  for,  —  they  bore  him  on  to  triumph. 

Now,  what  nature  did  for  Turner  (and  in  very  many  cases  much  more) 
nature  has  done  for  us,  and  it  rests  with  ourselves  whether  our  work,  honestly 
done,  shall  end  as  his  work  ended,  or  whether  it  shall  end  insignificantly.  The 
only  difference  is  whether  we  will  work  eight  hours  a  day  or  three.  We 
settle  that,  not  nature.  I  find  that  in  one  command  is  contained  all  the 
injunctions  to  those  who  would  achieve  a  great  life.  It  is  this  :  "  Whatsoever 
thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  all  thy  might." 

It  is  not  the  nature  of  your  work,  nor  the  importance  socially  or  pecuni- 
arily of  your  trade  or  profession,  that  will  give  you  the  opportunity  or  means 
of  living  a  great  and  noble  life  ;  for  there  are  noodles  in  every  calling,  however 
important,  and  nobles  in  every  occupation,  however  insignificant.  The  man 
dignifies  or  degrades  the  ofiice,  the  office  does  neither  to  the  man. 

There  is  absolutely  no  employment  which  may  not  be  made  the  means  of 
arriving  at  success  in  life  ;  there  is  none  which  cannot  be  degraded  into  fail- 
ure. The  only  stipulation  is  that  your  hands  shall  have  found  the  work  to 
do  and  that  it  shall  be  done  with  your  might,  —  not  with  your  inclinations 
only,  nor  with  faltering  hands  and  timid  hearts,  but  with  might,  and  might 
means  strength  of  hand  and  strength  of  heart,  skill  and  courage  combined  in 
one  strong  word. 

It  is,  perhaps,  one  of  the  most  notable  features  of  greatness  that  it  is 
almost  invariably  accompanied  by  modesty.  Great  knowledge  introduces  us 
not  only  to  the  secrets  of  learning,  but  to  the  depths  of  our  ignorance,  and 
the  man  who  has  discovered  the  profundity  of  his  ignorance  must  have 
advanced  very  far  into  the  region  of  knowledge. 

It  was  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  one  of  the  greatest  of  Englishmen,  who  was  con- 
gratulated at  the  close  of  a  life  of  brilliant  discoveries  on  his  great  achieve- 
ments, and  his  answer  is  the  answer  of  a  man  who  by  going  further  than 
other  men  had  discovered  the  depths  of  his  own  ignorance.  "  Sir,"  he  re- 
plied in  answer  to  the  compliment,  "  I  feel  that  I  have  been  like  a  little  child 
playing  with  the  pebbles  on  the  margin  of  the  ocean,  whilst  the  great  voyage 
of  discovery  is  yet  to  be  made," 

Michael  Angelo,  who  was  sculptor,  painter,  architect,  engineer,  and  poet, 
and  take  him  for  all  in  all  the  greatest  artist  the  world  has  ever  produced, 
was  discovered  when  he  was  more  than  eighty  years  of  age  studying  a  frag- 
ment of  ancient  sculpture  in  a  ruined  building  at  Rome.  He  was  reverently 
asked  by  a  friend  who  observed  him,  what  was  the  nature  of  his  inquiries  1 
"  Signor,"  he  answered,  "  I  am  studying  my  profession."  This  was  the 
modest  reply  of  a  man  who  as  a  sculptor,  as  a  draughtsman,  or  as  an  architect 


8 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


had  not  been  equalled  in  his  own  time,  and  who  though  three  centuries  have 
rolled  on  since  his  death,  has  not  yet  been  equalled  even  up  to  this  day. 

And  this  leads  me  to  say,  that  no  matter  what  our  pursuit  may  be,  at  the 
moment  we  arrive  at  satisfaction  with  ourselves,  we  die.  If  the  doing  of 
anything  has  not  so  improved  us  that  we  could  do  it  infinitely  better  if  we 
did  it  again,  and  feel  both  the  power  and  the  desire,  life  itself,  the  principle 
of  development  and  progress,  is  dead  within  us  ;  and  those  who  have  been 
improved  must  necessarily  feel  dissatisfied  with  their  own  works,  and  this 
dissatisfaction  induces  modesty.  It  is  only  complete  little  nobodies  who 
fancy  their  work  complete,  who  beheve  they  have  nothing  to  learn  and  can- 
not be  wrong.  Such  people  do  not  fancy  themselves  children  on  the  sea- 
shore playing  with  pebbles,  nor  do  they  study  their  professions  after  they 
have  passed  the  eightieth  year  of  their  age,  although  they  have  neither  dis- 
covered the  theory  of  gravitation  nor  built  the  cathedral  of  Saint  Peter. 

No  better  illustration  of  the  perseverance  of  great  men  can  be  given  than 
that  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton  when  his  MSS.  were  destroyed.  By  some  mis- 
chance his  favorite  dog  Beauty  was  shut  in  Sir  Isaac's  study.  The  papers 
and  MSS.  containing  his  calculations  and  discoveries  in  science  yet  unpub- 
lished, the  laborious  and  priceless  work  of  three  years  of  severest  application, 
were  arranged  on  the  table,  near  to  the  student's  lamp,  whose  midnight  oil 
shed  a  glimmering  light  on  the  precious  documents.  In  his  efforts  to  escape, 
Beauty  overturned  the  lamp  and  the  papers  catching  fire  were  all  reduced  to 
ashes.  Sir  Isaac  found  his  three  years'  work  had  disappeared,  leaving  no 
fragment  behind  of  the  abstruse  calculations  and  hard-earned  triumphs.  Did 
he  give  way  to  despair  and  abandon  his  inquiries  ?  No.  He  made  but  one 
reproachful  speech,  "  Oh,  Beauty,  Beauty,  thou  knowest  not  what  thou  hast 
done,"  and  then  sat  down  to  commence  over  again  from  the  far  distant  begin- 
ning, the  years  of  work  that  an  accident  had  destroyed. 

That  was  true  greatness,  having  every  feature  of  it,  —  work,  courage,  and 
perseverance. 

My  ideal  of  greatness  among  soldiers  is  drawn  from  the  Duke  of  Welling- 
ton, one  of  a  very  small  number  of  men  whom  the  profession  of  killing  has 
left  respectable. 

If  a  man  under  extreme  necessity  has  extremely  dirty  work  to  do,  such  as 
the  slaughtering  of  conscript  Frenchmen,  or  annihilating  one  of  the  Hill 
tribes  of  India,  it  is  some  credit  if  he  does  it  without  feelings  of  passion  or 
revenge,  and  comes  out  of  it  as  little  demoralized  as  is  possible,  with  as  few 
of  the  Ten  Commandments  broken  besides  the  sixth,  as  was  practicable. 

The  conduct  of  the  Duke  in  the  Peninsular  War  proves  him  truly  a  great 
man.  It  is  stated  that  during  those  troubled  times  the  English  army  was  so 
well  managed  when  in  France  that  the  French  peasants,  in  fear  of  the  rapine 
and  license  prevailing  among  their  own  mihtary  countrymen,  would  carry 
their  property  for  protection  within  the  English  lines.  And  though  when  in 
Spain  the  English  soldiers  were  regarded  as  the  saviours  of  the  country,  and 
might  in  return  for  the  hardships  and  fighting  undertaken,  expect  to  be 
allowed  to  make  themselves  somewhat  at  home,  yet  there  were  actually  fewer 


The  Greatness  of  Great  Men. 


9 


offences  of  a  civil  character  among  the  victorious  English  soldiers  than  there 
w^ould  have  been  had  they  been  at  home  in  barracks.  All  this  was  due  to  the 
Duke's  personal  influence,  his  greatness,  for  true  greatness  may  be  shown  in 
little  things.  Then  again,  when  occupying  Paris  as  a  conqueror,  together 
with  Blucher,  the  Prussian  General  wanted  to  blow  up  a  few  of  the  bridges, 
and  in  other  ways  write  the  lesson  of  humiliation  upon  the  French  capital  in 
rather  large  letters,  —  capital  letters,  we  might  say,  —  Wellington  would  not 
allow  a  single  act  of  revenge.  But  he  took  the  opportunity  of  having  the 
pictures,  statuary,  and  other  works  of  art,  which  Napoleon  had  pillaged  from 
the  various  capitals  of  Europe,  returned  to  their  rightful  owners. 

So  scrupulous  was  the  grand  old  English  warrior  about  his  conduct,  that  at 
one  time  during  the  great  war  in  Spain,  when  he  had  been  most  disgracefully 
left  without  pecuniary  supplies  by  the  squabbling  ministry  at  home,  he  got 
behind  in  payments  for  his  commissariat  —  the  food  and  shelter  of  his  men. 
This  distressed  him  exceedingly,  and  his  appeals  for  money  from  England 
were  constant.  In  one  of  them  he  said  that  he  was  almost  afraid  to  go  out 
of  camp  for  fear  of  being  dunned.  Imagine  the  commander-in-chief  of  the 
army  that  was  saving  Spain  being  dunned  by  Spanish  butchers,  grocers,  and 
bakers  ! 

Such  conduct  as  this  goes  far  to  make  even  war  respectable.  But  observe 
it  was  not  his  office  that  made  Wellington  great,  it  was  his  principle.  He 
was  sent  to  stop  a  great  French  thief  in  his  career  of  robbery,  and  he 
accepted  the  business.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  of  him,  then,  that  he  would 
allow  his  own  countrymen  to  turn  thieves  on  a  small  scale  in  a  foreign  coun- 
try ;  and  when  he  himself  found  he  had  been  feeding  his  men  and  could  not 
pay  for  their  food,  he  suffered  the  pangs  of  conscience.  Luckily  the  supplies 
from  home  came,  and  the  credit  of  the  English  army  rose,  and  with  it  the 
spirits  of  its  commander-in-chief. 

If  this  alone  were  told  to  me  of  one  man,  and  the  pillaging  of  picture- 
galleries  of  another,  I  should  at  once  say,  "  The  greatest  of  those  two  men  is 
the  man  who  pays  his  way  and  does  n't  steal."  It  is  possible  that  Napoleon 
may  have  won  more  battles  than  Wellington,  it  is  certain  that  he  lost  more  ; 
it  is  possible  that  Napoleon  killed  more  men  than  Wellington,  but  did  he  save 
more  lives  ?  Wellington  fighting  against  Napoleon,  and  conquering  him,  was 
saving  the  lives  of  thousands  of  Frenchmen  who  would  have  been  duly  sac- 
rificed by  their  Emperor  to  the  lust  of  war. 

But  of  Wellington  how  different  is  the  tale  !  After  a  battle  was  won  the 
most  dreadful  thing  to  him  was  to  hear  read  a  list  of  the  killed  and  wounded 
among  his  own  men ;  and  several  instances  are  recorded  of  this  man,  who 
was  called  "the  Iron  Duke,"  when  the  cost  in  human  Hfe  of  a  battle  was 
made  known  to  him,  crying  passionately  at  the  dreadful  sacrifice.  Yet  if  ever 
a  war  was  defensible,  that  war  which  was  engaged  in  to  stop  the  career  of  an 
European  thief  was  righteous.  Nevertheless  some  people  still  say  Napoleon 
was  a  great  man.  Do  you  suppose  that  a  man  who  stole  pictures,  the  precious 
heirlooms  of  a  country's  greatness,  as  Napoleon  did,  ever  was  scrupulous 
about  stealing  meat  and  drink  and  bread,  or  about  stealing  human  life  A 

2 


10 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


thief  takes  that  which  comes  in  his  way,  that  which  he  wants,  and  neither 
the  independence  of  a  nation,  nor  the  property  of  cities,  nor  the  lives  of  its 
inhabitants,  are  beneath  the  pilfering  wants  of  a  very  big  thief  Napoleon 
took  all. 

This  is  what  I  meant  at  the  beginning  of  my  lecture  by  saying  that  great- 
ness, in  my  opinion,  did  not  mean  the  same  thing  as  the  greatness  of  great 
sinners.  That  is  an  altogether  spurious  greatness,  which  bears  the  same 
relation  to  the  real  thing  as  shoddy  does  to  broadcloth.  It  may  have  a  grand 
appearance,  but  it  has  no  staple  ;  it  may  look  well,  but  it  does  not  wear  well. 
There  is  more  cloth  than  dinner,  as  Yorkshiremen  wisely  say ;  and  what  din- 
ner there  is  does  not  agree  with  us,  but  leaves  a  bad  taste  in  our  mouths,  a 
doctor's  bill  to  pay,  and  penitence  as  a  reward. 

I  have  before  remarked  that  the  mere  acquisition  of  great  skill  and  its 
possession,  does  not  of  itself  make  men  great ;  it  only  furnishes  them  with 
the  means  to  achieve  greatness,  and  proves  their  undoubted  capacity.  The 
final  test  is  the  use  to  which  either  their  knowledge  or  skill  is  applied.  Thus, 
the  most  accompHshed  surgeon  may  be  the  instrument  of  life  or  death ;  a 
great  writer  may  elevate  the  tastes  of  a  nation,  whilst  an  equally  able  writer 
may  deprave  its  tastes,  and  this  use  of  his  skill  excludes  him  from  the  ranks 
of  greatness  ;  a  great  warrior  may,  by  his  very  victories,  save  human  life,  as 
Wellington  did,  whilst  a  warrior  of  more  genius,  as  it  is  sometimes  said,  like 
Napoleon,  is  simply  a  cut-throat  in  an  extensive  way  of  business. 

That  which  constitutes  the  difference  in  these  cases  is  the  uses  and  pur- 
poses to  which  great  accomplishments  are  applied.  I  regard  the  accumula- 
tion of  money  by  any  individual,  through  his  own  exertions  or  skill,  if  he  has 
done  it  with  clean  hands,  as  a  sign  of  great  powers  ;  but  the  use  he  makes  of 
his  money  is  the  sole  test  of  his  human  character  worth  having.  If  he  simply 
possesses  vast  resources,  he  is  rich  only ;  if  he  considers  himself  as  the 
steward  of  those  riches,  for  the  advancement  of  happiness  and  righteousness, 
he  is  wealthy  also,  for  he  is  one  who  has  regard  for  the  common  weal,  and 
who  fosters  it.  In  the  most  exalted  of  all  vocations,  that  of  statesmanship, 
a  man  with  the  ripest  experience  and  most  brilliant  powers  may  either  consider 
or  originate  measures  for  the  advancement  of  a  nation,  rising  above  all  tram- 
mels of  party,  interests  of  clique  or  class,  or  benefit  of  the  few  ;  or  he  may 
survey  all  his  privileges  and  opportunities  as  means  for  furthering  his  own 
position  or  that  of  his  friends,  of  lowering  his  political  opponents,  and  tri- 
umphing in  the  possession  of  power. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  see  on  which  side  lies  true  greatness  in  that  case. 

And  this  brmgs  me  to  consider  the  different  kinds  of  greatness  in  sub- 
divisions. It  may  be  moral,  intellectual,  or  professional,  though  from  what  I 
have  before  said,  you  will  gather  that  I  regard  intellectual  or  professional 
greatness  more  in  the  light  of  trade  skill,  unless  accompanied  by  the  element 
of  moral  worth.  It  is  only  when  all  three  are  combined  that  we  have  the 
highest  order  of  men. 

First,  of  moral  greatness. 

In  this  dilapidated  old  world,  there  have  been,  and  still  are,  I  hope,  many 


The  Greatness  of  Gi'eat  Men. 


II 


instances  of  moral  greatness  among  men,  though  I  do  believe  it  is  to  be 
found  much  more  frequently  among  women  than  men. 

We  live  in  an  age  of  change ;  it  is  the  fashion,  and  alterations  are  some- 
times mistaken  for  novelty.  The  nineteenth  century  is  one  of  scientific  dis- 
covery and  artistic  revival,  and  pre-eminently  a  fast  a'ge.  The  one  great 
invention  of  locomotion  by  steam  has  increased  the  speed  of  everything 
except  thought,  and  not  only  the  speed  but  the  haste.  Even  in  the  earlier 
and  later  periods  of  my  own  life-time,  I  see  a  marked  difference  in  the  way 
in  which  all  kinds  of  work  are  carried  on,  whether  manual  or  intellectual. 
The  iron  horse  has  outraced  the  animal  of  flesh  and  blood,  and  we  are  rap- 
idly learning  its  paces  ;  the  iron  has  indeed  entered  into  our  very  souls,  — 
whether  for  good  or  evil  time  alone  will  show.  The  good  of  it  is  perhaps  the 
vanquishing  of  time  and  distance,  and  in  other  ways  the  general  overcoming 
of  material  difficulties.  The  evil  of  it  is,  that  though  we  do  twice  as  much 
work  as  formerly  in  the  same  time,  we  think  no  more,  but  perhaps  less  ;  we 
have  no  time  to  think,  but  go  crashing  on  to  save  ourselves  from  being 
crushed  in  the  hurry  of  progress. 

This  seems  to  me  to  account  very  much  for  the  moral  littleness  of  our  age 
in  many  important  features.  Competition  is  an  excellent  thing  when  confined 
to  the  trial  of  which  shall  do  the  best.  It  is  an  awful  thing  when  it  resolves 
itself  into  a  bid  as  to  which  shall  do  the  worst  under  the  appearance  of  the 
best.  And  yet  it  seems  to  me  this  is  what  we  have  practically  come  to,  in 
various  and  multitudinous  ways.  If  I  were  asked  to  define  the  precise  character- 
istic in  which  the  nineteenth  century  is  distinguished  above  all  others,  I  should 
say,  not  in  haste,  but  with  great  deliberation,  "  the  art  of  deception."  I  do 
not  think  there  ever  was  a  time  of  which  it  could  be  more  truly  said  that 
"  deceit  and  guile  go  not  out  of  our  streets."  It  was  reserved  for  the  nine- 
teenth century  to  invent  shoddy  and  discover  chiccory,  —  and  great  authori- 
ties say  that  with  the  exception  of  green-grocery  and  butchers'  meat  there  is 
no  single  article  of  food  that  is  not  adulterated.  The  butter-men  say  they 
don't  adulterate  their  eggs,  owing  to  a  difficulty  in  the  penetration  of  the 
shell  without  visible  external  injury.  But  then  the  British  public  notice  that 
fresh  eggs  are  sold  at  an  advanced  age,  in  a  forward  state  of  decomposition, 
and  that  this  is  an  ample  equivalent  for  adulteration. 

We  became  accustomed  to  the  mixture  of  chiccory  with  our  coffee  when  it 
was  legaHzed,  and  grocers  had  proved  that  the  coffee  was  better  for  the  chic- 
cory; but  when  the  "  Lancet "  informs  us  that  chiccory  itself  is  extensively  adul- 
terated with  a  still  cheaper  and  viler  compound  than  itself,  I  own  to  being 
struck  with  astonishment,  if  not  with  admiration,  at  the  inventive  power  of 
the  age  we  live  in. 

The  only  question  is,  can  this  universal  deception  go  on,  and  leave  a  frag- 
ment of  moral  rectitude  behind  it  ?  for  the  disease  is  not  confined  to  food  nor 
raiment.  Another  form  of  it  attacks  almost  every  relationship  of  men 
towards  each  other,  and  all  are  subjected  to  its  influence.  I  do  not  say  that 
all  are  participators  in  this  general  evil,  equally  or  actually.  There  are  as 
many  honest  men  and  women  now  as  ever  there  were,  and  moral  greatness  is 


12 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


as  possible  to-day,  in  the  nineteenth  century,  as  in  the  days  of  all  the  cen- 
turies preceding  it.  Yet  I  do  think  we  pay  very  heavily,  both  in  our  morals 
and  our  purses,  for  the  Moloch  of  cheapness  and  competition  we  have  fallen 
down  and  worshipped,  and  we  have  not  seen  the  end  of  it  yet. 

These  remarks  may  seem  a  lengthy  preface  to  what  I  shall  have  to  say  on 
moral  greatness,  but  are  necessary  to  explain  my  own  definition  of  the  quality  ; 
because,  also,  it  is  of  such  infinite  importance  to  all  and  each  of  us  that, 
whatever  our  intellectual  or  professional  attainments  may  become,  our  stand- 
ard of  moral  greatness  shall  be  of  the  very  highest.  And  it  is  also  a  ques- 
tion which  affects  the  lives  of  every  human  being,  every  day  of  the  week  and 
every  hour  of  the  day,  of  the  highest  and  lowest,  the  richest  and  poorest, 
youngest  and  oldest,  the  most  learned  and  most  ignorant,  the  most  foolish 
and  the  wisest.  Whatever  else  we  may  attain  to,  we  have  the  means  and 
opportunities  already  in  our  possession  of  attaining  moral  greatness,  and  the 
opportunity  comes  to  every  one  of  us  every  day  of  our  lives. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  necessary  to  understand  what  the  quality  is  before 
we  can  understand  it  in  others  or  practise  it  ourselves.  After  considering  the 
lives  of  many  persons  whose  moral  greatness  has  been  unquestionable,  the 
basis  of  it  appears  to  me  to  be  that  a  man  shall  have  thought  most  carefully 
for  himself,  with  all  the  help  he  can  get  to  assist  him  from  every  source,  and 
finally  settled  in  his  own  mind  what  is  the  right  moral  principle  to  act  upon 
under  all  circumstances,  and,  having  so  settled,  to  make  a  sacred  compact 
with  his  own  conscience  that,  by  the  blessing  and  help  of  God,  he  will  never 
depart  from  it,  let  the  temptation  come  in  whatever  shape  it  may  ;  to  regard 
departure  from  this  standard  of  duty  as  the  greatest  of  all  calamities,  and 
himself  as  the  most  scrupulous  and  exacting  of  all  task-masters. 

Such  is  the  basis  of  moral  greatness,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  taken  as  a 
rule  of  life,  or  a  condition  to  be  acquired,  it  is  of  untold  importance,  and  it 
explains  also  the  principle  upon  which  the  morally  great  have  attained  their 
greatness  ;  not  without  sacrifice,  for  such  a  spirit  as  I  have  described  entails 
constant  sacrifices  ;  and  when  a  man  has  appointed  his  conscience  to  be  mas- 
ter over  himself,  with  full  authority  and  promised  submission,  master  and 
man  are  never  far  apart,  the  eye  of  the  master  is  always  over  the  workman. 

The  whole  noble  army  of  martyrs,  whether  for  the  spread  of  Christianity, 
the  uprooting  of  mental  thraldom,  or  the  reformation  of  national  injustice  or 
vices,  may  be  instanced  as  examples  of  the  morally  great.  Their  distin- 
guished positions,  the  depth  of  their  sufferings,  the  magnitude  of  their 
labors,  the  bitterness  of  their  trials,  and  the  greatness  of  the  benefits 
achieved  by  their  sacrifices  for  us,  all  impress  upon  our  memories  the  lessons 
to  be  learned  from  them,  and  upon  our  hearts  the  gratitude  which  is  their 
just  due. 

In  our  own  country  a  just  and  creditable  acknowledgment  to  moral  great- 
ness has  recently  been  made  in  the  erection  of  a  statue  to  Andrew  Marvell, 
in  the  town  hall,  Hull,  of  which  town  he  was  both  a  native  and  representative 
in  Parliament.  His  character  seems  to  have  been  moulded  upon  the  one 
great  principle  of  moral  integrity,  from  which  no  penalty  could  make  him 


The  Greatness  of  Great  Men. 


13 


swerve,  no  bait  tempt  him  to  depart.  In  a  few  words  the  following  sketch 
illustrates  his  character  and  tells  us  who  and  what  he  was,  besides  giving  us 
a  typical  instance  of  his  temptations  and  victories :  — 

"  The  borough  of  Hull,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II,  chose  Andrew  Marvell, 
a  young  gentleman  of  little  or  no  fortune,  and  maintained  him  in  London  for 
the  service  of  the  public.  His  understanding,  integrity,  and  spirit  were 
dreadful  to  the  then  infamous  administration.  Persuaded  that  he  would  be 
theirs  for  properly  asking,  they  sent  his  old  school-fellow,  the  Lord  Treasurer 
Danby,  to  renew  acquaintance  with  him  in  his  garret.  At  parting,  the  Lord 
Treasurer,  out  of  pure  affection,  slipped  into  his  hand  an  order  on  the  treasury 
for  ^1,000,  and  then  went  to  his  chariot.  Marvell,  looking  at  the  paper, 
called  after  his  lordship,  "  My  lord,  I  request  another  moment."  They  went 
up  again  to  the  garret,  and  Jack  the  servant  boy  was  called.  "Jack,  child," 
said  Marvell,  "  what  had  I  for  dinner  yesterday  ?  "  —  "  Don't  you  remember, 
sir,"  said  Jack,  "  you  had  the  little  shoulder  of  mutton  that  you  ordered  me 
to  bring  from  the  woman  in  the  market  ?  "  —  "  Very  right,  child  ;  what  have  I 
for  dinner  to-day?" — "  Don't  you  know,  sir,  that  you  bid  me  layby  the  blade- 
bone  to  broil  ?  "  —  "  'T  is  so  ;  very  right ;  child,  go  away."  Turning  to  Lord 
Danby,  he  said,  "  My  lord,  do  you  hear  that?  Andrew  Marvell's  dinner  is 
provided  ;  there 's  your  piece  of  paper,  I  want  it  not ;  I  know  the  sort  of 
kindness  you  intended  ;  I  live  here  to  serve  my  constituents  ;  the  ministry 
may  seek  men  for  their  purpose,  I  am  not  one." 

Nor  were  the  pains  of  hunger  or  the  discomfort  of  a  garret  the  only  sacri- 
fice entailed  upon  him  for  his  incorruptible  morality.  It  is  believed  that  after 
suffering  from  the  danger  and  menaces  of  a  corrupt  court  and  a  venal  admin- 
istration for  a  long  time,  during  which  his  very  life  was  constantly  threat- 
ened, he  died  most  suddenly  and  unaccountably,  and  not  without  strong 
suspicion  of  foul  play,  from  those  whose  vices  were  the  natural  enemies  of 
his  many  virtues. 

I  hardly  think  the  anecdote  I  have  just  related  does  him  full  justice.  If 
there  had  been  no  blade-bone  to  broil,  the  bribe  would  have  been  as  promptly 
refused  ;  for  having  settled  definitely  what  was  to  be  his  conduct  in  life,  blade- 
bones  and  treasury  bonds  would  be  equally  powerless  to  move  him. 

That  kind  of  moral  greatness  leads  men  to  reject  the  wrong,  and  I  will  now 
tell  you  of  another  phase  of  the  same  character  which  is  seen  in  self-denial. 

Sydney  Smith,  as  Prebend  of  St.  Paul's,  when  the  living  of  Edmonton  fell 
vacant  by  the  death  of  the  incumbent,  was  entitled  by  rotation  to  become  the 
new  vicar,  or  give  the  vicarage  to  some  one  else.  The  late  vicar  left  behind 
him  a  widow,  daughters,  and  a  son,  who  was  his  curate.  The  widow  had  a 
certain  time  given  her  to  remove  from  the  vicarage,  and  as  she  was  left  in 
very  straitened  circumstances  by  the  death  of  her  husband,  she  was  in  a 
very  melancholy  condition  at  her  affliction  and  prospects.  When  the  Rev. 
Prebendary  Sydney  Smith  called  upon  her,  it  was,  she  supposed,  to  make 
inquiries  concerning  her  leaving  the  home  she  had  lived  in  so  long  and 
happily,  and  she  met  the  reverend  gentleman  with  a  doleful  countenance,  and 
with  what  courage  she  could  summon  referred  to  himself  as  the  new  incum- 


14 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


bent.  Sydney  Smith,  who  had  been  a  witness  of  the  grief  of  mother  and 
daughters,  and  had  before  convinced  himself  by  inquiries  of  their  circum- 
stances, at  once  disclaimed  the  notion  that  he  was  to  be  the  new  vicar,  but 
added  that  he  certainly  had  called  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  that  gentle- 
man to  them,  which  he  now  would  be  happy  to  do.  Leaving  the  room,  and 
the  ladies  in  some  degree  of  astonishment,  he  fetched  out  of  the  late  vicar's 
study  a  gentleman  who  had  been  waiting  there  by  his  express  wish.  Advan- 
cing hand  in  hand  to  the  ladies,  the  prebend  said,  "  Allow  me  to  introduce  to 
your  kind  notice  the  new  vicar  of  Edmonton."  Well  !  the  new  vicar  was  the 
widow's  own  son,  who  had  been  curate  to  his  father,  and  thus  home  was  to  be 
home  still,  and  the  widow  and  her  daughters  were  neither  houseless  nor  in 
poverty. 

Now,  it  would  have  been  pleasant  enough,  no  doubt,  for  Sydney  Smith  to 
have  taken  that  living  for  himself,  and  under  some  circumstances  he  would 
have  done  so  ;  but  when  he  came  to  know  what  the  real  circumstances  were, 
his  mind  was  made  up  in  a  moment.  He  must  give  way  himself,  and  he  did 
it  right  nobly. 

These  are  illustrations  of  moral  greatness,  to  which  might  be  added  the 
whole  roll  of  noble  acts  which  add  lustre  to  the  names  of  such  men  as  Augus- 
tine, Luther,  George  Fox,  and  others  of  our  own  day.  I  consider  it  as  emi- 
nently moral  that  in  the  railway  mania  George  Stephenson  would  never  have 
lot  nor  part  with  speculative  railway  schemes,  got  up  to  be  bought  off.  When 
his  name  might  have  been  used  to  bolster  up  a  rotten  project,  and  thousands 
were  offered  for  so  using  it,  he  never  would  consent  so  to  sell  his  honor, 
although  he  himself  would  have  always  profited  by  others'  loss.  But  he  knew 
these  schemes  were  wrong ;  they  meant  plunder,  and  he  would  have  none 
of  them. 

I  Hke,  too,  the  story  of  that  London  brewer  who  became  a  convert  to  the 
temperance  cause  late  in  life.  A  rich  man  made  rich,  as  he  now  thought, 
by  the  poverty  and  misery  of  thousands  of  his  poorer  brethren.  What 
was  he  to  do  Sell  his  business,  and  let  somebody  else  go  on  poisoning 
the  people  and  making  drunkards  of  them?  No;  he  could  not  do  that. 
What  was  to  become  of  the  thousands  of  gallons  of  beer  in  his  vats  now  ? 
Why  this  is  what  he  would  do,  and  did.  He  would  turn  the  whole  lot  of  it 
into  the  Thames,  so  that  it  should  do  no  harm  to  a  living  creature,  for  he 
knew  that  fish  were  sensible  enough  to  prefer  water  to  beer ;  and  into  the 
Thames  it  went.  Without  being  a  teetotaller  myself,  and  believing  that  there 
was  a  waste  of  good  malt  and  hops  in  the  transaction,  I  yet  distinguish  in  it 
a  feature  of  true  moral  greatness.  I  know  of  a  case  in  which  a  hterary 
gentleman,  of  irreproachable  life  and  morals,  went  into  partnership  with  a 
man  who  turned  out  both  rogue  and  fool.  After  a  few  years  of  partnership 
the  business  came  to  a  crash,  entirely  through  the  mad  folly  of  the  senior 
partner,  who  was  not  my  acquaintance.  The  case  was  a  very  bad  one,  and 
though  the  full  rigor  of  the  law  could  have  been  passed  upon  the  bankrupts, 
the  creditors  sympathized  with  the  gentleman,  who  was  even  a  greater  victim 
than  themselves.    His  statement  was  very  simple  :  "  Gentlemen,  we  have  all 


The  Greatness  of  Great  Mett. 


15 


been  robbed,  and  I  am  now  in  your  povv^er.  Here  is  my  body.  You  can  shut 
it  up  in  prison  and  be  revenged,  if  you  think  I  have  done  wrong.  If  not,  and 
you  leave  me  free  to  work  for  you,  I  will  do  so".  The  first  money  I  earn  I 
will  insure  my  life  for  the  total  amount  of  my  debt  to  you,  for  your  benefit, 
and,  as  soon  as  I  can,  I  will  pay  you  in  full."  The  creditors  knew  this  man's 
moral  worth  ;  they  trusted  him,  and  have  long  since  been  paid  off  in  full, 
principal  and  interest.  But  it  will  be  given  to  few  to  know  his  labors,  his 
self-denial,  and  his  trials  during  the  few  years  he  was  performing  this  self- 
imposed  task.  No  poor  laboring  man  ever  lived  more  abstemiously,  worked 
half  as  hard,  or  underwent  more  self-abasement  than  he  did  for  those  years  ; 
but  he  triumphed  in  the  end,  and  has  gone  on  triumphantly  ever  since. 

I  shall  not  multiply  instances  ;  but  will  add  that  though  called  upon  only 
seldom  to  perform  great  acts  of  self-sacrifice,  for  the  sake  of  moral  princi- 
ples, hardly  a  day  can  pass  which  does  not  summon  us  to  fight  in  some 
capacity,  however  humble,  under  this  standard. 

Of  intellectual  or  professional  greatness  I  shall  not  have  so  much  to  say ; 
this  much,  however,  I  must  say,  that  there  is  one  fallacy  held  with  regard  to 
it  which  deserves  to  be  exploded.  It  is  a  common  saying  that  the  shoemaker 
should  stick  to  his  last,  and  that  a  jack-of-all-trades  is  a  master  of  none  ; 
that  a  man  who  studies  many  things  is  not  so  likely  to  succeed  as  he  who 
confines  himself  to  one,  and  many  other  such  decoctions  of  wisdom.  My 
knowledge  of  the  characters  of  intellectually  and  professionally  great  men 
leads  me  to  an  opposite  conclusion.  I  believe  that  the  reason  so  many  fail 
is,  that  they  confine  themselves  too  exclusively  to  the  groove  in  which  they 
are  placed  and  along  which  they  are  taught  to  run.  There  is  no  subject  con- 
nected with  the  happiness  of  human  beings  which  does  not  by  its  study 
strengthen  the  mental  faculties,  improve  the  powers  of  perception,  and  make 
abler  men  in  whatever  their  profession  or  trade.  When  study  of  a  subject 
direcdy  connected  with  the  daily  work  of  life  can  be  undertaken,  it  must 
immediately  affect  the  quality  of  work  produced  by  the  student,  and  influence 
it  for  good.  But  even  when  not  immediately  connected  with  that  web  which 
^  like  industrious  spiders  we  have  to  weave  every  day  for  our  daily  bread,  a  fair 
and  honest  investigation  into  a  branch  of  knowledge  that  is  new  ground  to  us 
will  be  found  of  practical  advantage. 

The  very  greatest  men  in  every  department  of  knowledge  have  been  dis- 
tinguished in  many  other  branches  besides  their  own,  and  in  my  opinion  owe 
their  superiority  mainly  to  it.  In  the  architecture  of  St.  Peter's  there  is  the 
grandeur  of  composition  that  was  learned  by  Michelangelo  in  his  study  of 
sculpture  ;  in  his  cartoon  of  the  last  judgment  the  strong  effects  of  light  and 
shade  and  dramatic  treatment  he  produced  in  designs  for  public  monuments. 
In  details,  that  which  made  him  one  of  the  greatest  anatomists  of  his  age, 
made  him  also  the  greatest  draughtsman  of  the  human  figure. 

Professor  Whewell,  once  Master  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  was  un- 
surpassed as  a  scholar,  and  yet  it  is  said  there  was  absolutely  no  subject 
that  could  ever  be  brought  forward  that  he  did  not  show  himself  intimately 
acquainted  with. 


i6 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


Mr.  Gladstone  is  not  a  less  efficient  statesman  because  he  is  also  a  Greek 
scholar,  nor  will  he  love  freedom  less  in  his  own  country  because  he  once 
examined  the  prisons  of  Naples  at  some  pains  and  not  without  effect. 

An  architect  who  is  equal  to  the  duties  of  his  profession  must  know  as 
much  about  each  trade  employed  in  the  erection  of  a  building  as  the  work- 
man who  does  the  work  in  each,  and  able  in  each  to  tell  good  work  from  bad. 
If,  in  addition  to  all  this,  he  studies  incidentally  such  matters  as  ventilation, 
acoustics,  sanitary  laws,  land  laws,  geology,  brick-making,  forestry,  chemistry, 
and  a  few  other  kindred  subjects,  he  will  be  none  the  worse  fitted  to  build  us 
a  comfortable  house. 

I  am  not  so  speaking  because  I  would  offer  any  encouragement  to  the  frivo- 
lous or  discontented  to  change  their  occupations,  or  take  interest  in  anything  or 
everything  besides  their  own  work.  That  is  a  very  different  sort  of  thing, 
and  I  do  not  think  any  man  has  a  right  to  enlarge  the  area  of  his  studies 
until  he  has  at  least  learnt  his  own  business  so  well  that  he  can  honorably 
support  himself  by  it.  But  when  he  has  so  acquired  his  craft,  I  do  say  that 
the  more  he  broadens  the  basis  of  his  knowledge  the  better,  and  the  more 
likely  he  is  to  arrive  at  intellectual  or  professional  greatness. 

Besides  this,  who  can  know  the  extent  of  their  powers  until  they  have  been 
tried  ?  Many  of  the  most  brilliant  geniuses  have  hit  upon  the  road  to  emi- 
nence while  studying  quite  a  different  subject  to  that  they  were  employed  at. 
Giotto  began  life  as  a  shepherd  boy.  Sir  Francis  Chantry  as  a  milkman,  John 
Gibson  as  a  stone-mason.  Sir  William  Herschel  as  a  militiaman  oboe-player ; 
and  had  they  stuck  to  their  original  callings,  they  at  least  would  have  fared 
the  worse,  and  society  lost  some  of  its  brightest  ornaments.  Although  it  is 
well  to  remember  that  "the  rolling  stone  gathers  no  moss,"  it  is  not  wise  to 
forget  that  "  the  tethered  donkey  is  in  danger  of  starvation." 

The  universal  characteristic  of  all  great  work,  whether  in  art,  science,  or 
literature,  is  the  impression  it  gives  of  having  been  done  easily.  The  touch 
of  a  great  master  seems  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world,  if  you  see  him  apply 
it,  and  the  only  marvel  is  why  everybody  cannot  do  it  as  well.  The  apparent 
simplicity  and  absence  of  effort  with  which  Halle  plays,  or  John  Bright  speaks, 
seems  to  imply  that  they  take  very  little  trouble  about  it.  Very  likely  not, 
because  their  failures  were  made  some  few  years  ago,  and  we  only  see  their 
successes.  After  a  writing-master  has  been  writing  copper-plate  for  a  quarter 
of  a  century,  it  becomes  an  absolute  impossibility  for  him  to  write  a  bad  hand 
at  all,  even  should  he  want  to  do  so. 

So  long  as  we  remain  without  wings,  there  is  only  one  way  to  the  top  of  a 
ladder,  and  that  is  up  the  steps  ;  and  if,  when  you  are  surveying  the  exalted 
position  of  some  one  at  the  top,  you  are  told  that  the  man  was  born  there,  or 
descended  to  his  perch  in  some  mysterious  way  from  the  skies,  you  will  be 
justified  in  not  believing  that  story.  There  may  be  many  paths  that  lead  to 
the  same  platform,  but  they  are  all  steep,  and  though  it  may  take  a  firm 
step,  a  steady  eye,  a  cool  head,  and  some  physical  exertion  to  arrive  at  the 
terminus  above  us,  nature  has  been  good  enough  to  supply  most  of  us  with 
feet  and  eyes  and  heads  and  muscles,  which  may  be  used  firmly  or  weakly, 


The  Greatness  of  Great  Men. 


17 


steadily  or  waveringly,  coolly  or  excitedly,  according  to  our  own  desires. 
Only  of  this  we  may  rest  assured,  that  great  men  have  always  used  their  feet, 
eyes,  and  hands  one  way,  and  little  men  the  opposite  way,  or  not  used  them  at 
all.  So  it  always  has  been,  and  so  we  are  justified  in  believing  it  always  will 
be,  so  long  as  the  human  race  remains  as  tenants  in  possession  of  this  little 
world. 

And  now,  thanking  you  all  for  the  way  in  which  you  have  listened  to  me 
to-night,  to  what  I  fear  has  been  rather  a  sermonizing  and  moralizing  dis- 
course, I  will  conclude  by  apologizing  to  you  for  the  fragmentary  manner  in 
which  the  subject  has  been  brought  before  you.  When  I  began  to  prepare 
this  lecture,  I  found  that  if  I  attempted  to  cover  the  whole  ground  of  my 
subject,  I  could  do  nothing  but  tell  anecdotes  and  mention  names.  I  have 
tried,  rather,  that  my  utterances,  however  imperfect,  should  be  to  some  extent 
original,  and  to  the  whole  extent  my  own  honest  belief.  If  you  have  come  to 
me  for  bread  and  I  have  given  you  but  a  rugged  stone,  you  have  come  to  a 
mason  instead  of  to  a  baker,  but  to  a  mason  who  is  in  as  great  a  need  of  the 
bread  you  seek  as  any  of  yourselves. 

That  which  I  have  learned,  and  desire  to  impress  upon  you,  is  that  greatness 
is  the  result  alone  of  labor,  courage,  and  perseverance  ;  and  that  intellectual 
and  professional  pre-eminence  without  moral  greatness  is  a  very  short-lived 
thing  ;  that  men  setting  out  with  a  desire  for  celebrity  only,  and  prepared 
to  sacrifice  all  to  attain  it,  are  precisely  those  who  never  realize  their  dreams. 
Short  cuts  are  proverbially  long  roads,  and  that  which  honest  labor  turns  into 
fame,  becomes  in  the  hands  of  those  who  desire  only  celebrity  a  temporary 
notoriety. 

There  is  nothing  more  prolific  of  distinction  and  true  greatness,  than  that 
men  should  have  a  clearly-defined  object  in  life,  and  that  it  should  be  a  good 
object,  contributing  to  the  welfare  of  society  as  well  as  to  their  own  advance- 
ment. And  there  is  no  truer  sign  of  the  likelihood  of  attaining  it,  than  that 
a  man  should  subordinate  his  own  desires  utterly  and  completely  to  his  object 
in  life.  No  indication  of  moral  greatness  is  more  reliable  than  a  spirit  of 
toleration  for  the  opinions  of  others,  and  whilst  preserving  our  own  independ- 
ence to  do  so  without  offending  the  consciences  or  sacrificing  the  independ- 
ence of  others.  To  remember  also  that  however  remotely  descended  or 
distantly  connected,  we  are  children  of  a  common  parent,  with  brotherly  and 
sisterly  blood  flowing  in  our  veins,  and  that  though  it  is  our  business  to  con- 
quer the  earth  and  subdue  it,  it  is  none  of  our  business  to  conquer  and  sub- 
due one  another.  That  in  the  human  family,  as  in  the  human  body,  if  one 
member  suffer  all  the  members  should  suffer  with  it ;  if  one  member  rejoice 
all  the  members  should  rejoice  together  ;  and  that  thus  high  and  low,  rich  and 
poor,  in  hfe  and  in  art,  one  with  another  should  bear  each  other's  burdens,  and 
thus  in  our  objects,  our  lives,  and  our  actions  endeavor  to  live  up  to  the  stand- 
ard of  our  great  men. 

3 


I8  • 


The  Ante  fix  Papers, 


II. 

FRESCO,  ENCAUSTIC,  ETC. 

I  PROPOSE,  in  this  lecture,  to  give  you  some  account  of  ancient  and  modern 
methods  of  wall-painting,  such  as  fresco,  encaustic,  and  stereochromy  or  water- 
glass.  Encaustic  painting,  an  ancient  method  whose  processes  are  not  clearly 
understood,  may  be  said  to  be  altogether  obsolete.  Fresco  painting  is  both 
an  ancient  and  a  modern  method,  perfectly  understood  at  the  present  time, 
but  fallen  much  into  disuse,  not  only  because  the  taste  of  the  present  day  is 
adapted  to  a  class  of  subjects  unsuited  to  its  high  and  legitimate  uses,  but 
also  because  it  is  liable  to  suffer  under  the  influences  of  chmate  and  atmosphere. 
Stereochromy,  or  water-glass  painting,  is  a  modern  German  method,  which 
claims  to  be  an  all-sufficient  substitute  for  fresco,  and  to  possess  the  superior 
advantage  of  indestructibility.  I  believe  that  no  such  thing  as  a  fresco  paint- 
ing exists  in  this  country ;  certainly  we  have  never  had  an  American  fresco 
painter,  and  this  for  several  reasons.  Fresco  painting  is  only  suited  to  high 
art  or  to  the  noblest  style  of  decorative  art,  and  our  painters  know  httle  of 
either.  Even  if  they  did,  they  could  find  but  little  opportunity  to  exercise 
their  knowledge  in  the  present  condition  of  things.  Our  private  houses  are 
not  on  the  scale  of  Italian  palaces,  and  when  of  unusual  dimensions, 
are  not  inhabited  by  persons  inclined  to  spend  money  in  adorning  their  walls 
with  great  mural  paintings  of  historical  or  rehgious  subjects.  Our  public 
buildings,  as,  for  instance,  the  Capitol  at  Washington,  would  be  admirably 
suited  to  the  purpose  ;  but  I  fear  that  we  shall  have  to  wait  a  long  while 
before  our  legislators  are  ready  to  engage  the  services  of  an  artist  capable  of 
covering  their  walls  with  paintings  of  great  national  subjects,  in  fresco  or  water- 
glass.  Fresco  painting,  like  lyric  poetry,  does  not  suit  the  spirit  of  the  time. 
The  public  turns  a  cold  shoulder  upon  historical  and  religious  pictures  ;  it 
wants  to  be  amused  and  diverted  rather  than  to  be  elevated  and  instructed 
by  art ;  it  has  lost  the  conviction  which  former  ages  held,  that  art  is  intended 
not  only  to  give  pleasure  to  the  eye  but  to  elevate  and  ennoble  the  human 
creature,  and  does  not  look  to  it  for  the  expression  of  high  thoughts  and  the 
inculcation  of  high  lessons.  Certain  it  is  that  the  efforts  made  to  revive 
fresco  painting,  and  to  paint  in  water-glass  at  Munich  and  Berlin,  and,  later, 
in  England,  have  not  resulted  in  a  way  to  make  the  lover  of  really  high  art 
very  confident  as  to  the  wisdom  of  spending  large  sums  of  money  upon  mural 


Fresco,  Encaustic,  Etc. 


paintings.  The  artists  of  the  day  are  not  educated  up  to  the  standard  of  the 
great  fresco  painters  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  when  they  are  called  upon 
to  show  what  they  can  do  with  such  subjects  as  Raphael  and  Michelangelo 
dealt  with — the  only  legitimate  subjects  for  fresco  painting — achieve  but 
little  success.  As  compared  with  the  great  Italians  of  the  cinquecento, 
Kaulbach  and  Cornelius  and  Maclise  and  Watts  are,  like  so  many 
Phaetons  trying  to  drive  the  chariot  of  the  sun,  and,  for  the  most  part,  come 
to  a  like  end  when  they  attempt  fresco,  which,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  is 
as  dead  a  language  as  encaustic  painting,  for  the  reason  already  stated,  — 
that  it  is  only  fitted  for  the  expression  of  a  class  of  subjects  which  the  real- 
istic painters  of  our  time  are  incapable  of  dealing  with,  and  with  which  the 
public  has  but  little  sympathy.  Modern  art  is  essentially  imitative  ;  it  pro- 
duces fine  portraits  and  landscapes  and  genre  pictures,  but  it  fails  in 
works  which  demand  an  ideal  treatment.  Now,  the  processes  of  fresco  are 
incompatible  with  imitation  ;  they  are  only  suited  to  the  capabilities  of  an 
artist  whose  technical  training  and  whose  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  compo- 
sition, of  light  and  shade,  of  color  and  of  form,  are  of  the  highest  kind,  and 
so  thoroughly  in  his  grasp  that  he  can  use  them  rapidly,  boldly,  and,  as  it 
were,  intuitively.  He  can  make  his  cartoon  as  elaborate  a  piece  of  work  as 
he  pleases  ;  but  when  he  sits  down  before  the  bit  of  wet,  freshly-mortared 
wall,  prepared  for  his  day's  work,  he  must  be  able  to  paint  flesh,  draperies, 
accessories,  alia  prima,  as  you  would  write  a  letter,  with  the  certainty  that 
he  cannot  count  upon  retouching  to  any  considerable  extent,  and  that  there- 
fore what  is  to  be  done  must  be  done  surely  and  quickly.  Few  artists  now- 
a  days  are  sufficiently  well  trained  to  work  as  the  old  painters  did.  They  are 
accustomed  to  paint  every  part  of  their  pictures  directly  from  nature,  and 
when  they  rely  on  their  memories  for  anything  more  thin  a  sketch,  show 
them  to  be  but  scantily  furnished  with  the  solid  knowledge  required  to  paint  a 
figure  so  perfectly  that  it  will  need  but  few  corrections.  Again,  a  master 
cannot  be  aided,  as  the  artist  was  in  old  times,  by  pupils  as  obedient  to  his 
guidance  and  as  absolutely  under  his  control  as  if  they  were  so  many  parts 
of  himself.  The  old  system  of  apprenticeship  made  the  artist  a  Briareus,  — 
gave  him  ten  pairs  of  hands  instead  of  one,  and  at  the  same  time  educated 
those  extra  hands  so  thoroughly  that  in  time  they  became  as  technically 
skilful  as  his  own.  In  the  modern  system,  by  which  the  student  is  either 
trained  in  an  academy  or  self-taught,  he  occupies  an  absolutely  isolated  posi- 
tion, works  out  his  own  undisciplined  individuality,  if  he  have  any,  and  grows 
up  with  incomplete  training  and  with  vague  principles  concerning  the  laws  of 
beauty  and  the  principles  of  composition.  The  result  is  what  we  all  see  in 
modern  art,  which,  under  pain  of  failure,  is  forced  to  renounce  the  ideal  and 
deal  only  with  the  real.  If  I  allowed  myself  to  pursue  this  subject  I  should 
fill  this  lecture  with  a  disquisition  upon  the  disadvantages  under  which 
the  modern  world  labors  in  all  that  relates  to  art  of  the  highest  kind  ;  but 
this  is  not  what  I  wish  to  talk  to  you  about  to-day.  My  object  is  simply  to 
describe  the  methods  of  wall-painting,  which  were  formerly  means  to  immor- 
tal ends,  and  to  give  you  a  sketch  of  their  development.  ' 


2D 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


To  paint  in  fresco  is  to  paint  upon  a  wet,  freshly-mortared  wall.  This  wall 
must  undergo  a  certain  preparation.  We  will  suppose  it  to  be  of  brick.  A 
rough  coat  of  plaster  made  of  river-sand  and  lime,  is  spread  upon  it,  in  propor- 
tions which  vary  in  different  climates.  (In  Italy,  two  parts  of  sand  to  one  of 
lime  are  used.)  Lime  is  made  of  limestone.  According  to  the  length  of  time 
which  may  have  elapsed  between  its  preparation  and  its  use  will  be  the 
amount  of  its  causticity.  If  too  caustic,  it  blisters  ;  but  a  certain  amount 
of  causticity  is  necessary  to  give  it  adhesive  firmness.  Authorities  differ  as 
to  the  length  of  time  necessary  to  make  it  exactly  what  it  should  be.  Some 
say  three  months,  others  consider  three  years  not  too  long.  The  wall,  when 
it  has  its  first  rough  coating,  must  be  left  to  harden  perfectly  before  another  coat 
is  applied.  The  longest  period  is  the  safest.  When  perfectly  dry,  a  coat  of 
somewhat  finer  mortar  is  applied,  and  this,  too,  is  left  to  dry.  It  is  now  ready 
for  the  last  coat,  which  is  to  be  put  on  piecemeal,  as  the  painter  needs  it ;  that  is 
to  say,  each  morning  such  a  portion  of  the  surface  is  covered  with  fresh  mortar 
(which  is  of  extreme  fineness  and  of  about  the  consistency  of  oil  paint)  as  the 
painter  can  finish  in  his  day's  work.  This  is  a  matter  of  very  nice  calculation, 
as  it  is  important  for  the  painter  to  stop  just  on  the  outline  of  some  object  in  his 
picture,  such  as  the  border  of  a  piece  of  drapery,  or  the  depth  of  a  fold,  where 
the  dividing  line  may  not  be  perceptible,  as  it  would  be,  for  instance,  in  the 
middle  of  a  nude  figure  ;  for  otherwise  he  runs  the  risk  of  marring  his  work, 
as  he  would  do  if  he  failed  to  match  the  tone  of  color  as  it  was  when  freshly 
put  on.  What  this  was  he  can  only  judge  by  memory,  for  in  drying  the 
colors  change,  and  that  which  has  been  painted  for  some  hours,  will  have 
quite  altered  its  appearance  when  the  artist  resumes  his  work  on  the  following 
day.  Before  leaving  his  work  in  the  evening,  the  fresco  painter  cuts  away 
the  edge  of  his  day's  work  with  a  sharp  knife.  This  cut  must  be  brought 
against  the  wall-surface,  not  at  a  right  but  at  an  obtuse  angle,  in  order  that 
the  mason  may  the  better  piece  on  the  fresh  plaster,  so  that  it  may  bind  well 
with  that  already  painted,  and  not  make  a  ridge.  In  reality,  the  surface  upon 
which  a  fresco  is  painted,  is  made  up  of  many  pieces,  put  together  like 
painted  glass  in  a  mediceval  window,  or  like  the  bits  of  ivory  in  a  Chinese 
puzzle.  The  absence  or  presence  of  obnoxious  lines  depends  upon  the 
smoothness  with  which  the  mason  lays  his  plaster,  and  upon  the  skill  of  the 
painter  in  dividing  his  composition  so  that  the  dividing  lines  may  fall  in 
unimportant  parts  of  the  picture.  There  are,  however,  other  possible 
blots  upon  the  wall-surface  which  must  be  avoided.  As  it  is  important 
for  the  painter  to  work  with  certainty  and  speed,  he  must  know  exactly  what 
he  wants  before  he  takes  up  the  brush.  First  he  makes  a  general  sketch, 
then  a  series  of  studies  of  drapery,  attitudes,  etc.  etc.,  then  he  prepares  a 
cartoon,  i.  e.  a  large  drawing  in  charcoal  of  exactly  the  size  of  the  proposed 
fresco  painting.  He  is  now  ready  to  begin  operations  upon  the  wall.  Seated 
before  the  portion  of  wet  plaster  prepared  for  his  day's  work,  he  takes  a 
piece  of  oiled  paper,  upon  which  the  outline  has  been  traced,  and  fastens  it 
upon  the  plaster.  Then  with  a  pointed  stick,  a  stylus  of  wood  or  ivory,  he 
marks  Ihe  outlines  upon  the  wall  through  the  paper,  or  else  pricks  out  the 


Fresco^  Encaustic,  Etc. 


21 


outlines  on  the  tracing-paper,  and  powders  them  with  a  little  bag  of  charcoal- 
dust.  This  operation  leaves  the  outlines  in  black  upon  the  wall,  and  is 
preferable  to  the  first-named  plan,  because  the  indented  lines  made  by  the 
stylus,  collect  dust,  and  are  apt  to  show  with  an  unpleasant  effect. 

The  painter  can  use  neither  vegetable  nor  animal  colors,  as  these  alter 
when  combined  with  the  fresh  chalk.  Among  metallic  colors  some  are  to  be 
avoided,  as,  e.g.  white  lead.  This  can  be  replaced  by  finely-ground  chalk. 
All  colors  must  be  ground  in  pure  water,  without  the  use  of  any  combining 
medium,  as  through  subsequent  chemical  processes  they  afterwards  unite  with 
the  plaster.  By  the  burning  of  the  chalk  the  carbonic  acid  is  expelled  from 
it,  and  by  slacking  it  becomes  a  pure  hydrate  of  lime.  The  presence  of  car- 
bonic acid  would  cause  the  colors  to  blister,  and  would  produce  crystalliza- 
tions upon  the  surface.  It  is  an  error  to  suppose  that  colors  used  on  wet 
mortar  sink  any  more  deeply  into  the  wet  ground  than  colors  used  on  a  dry 
ground  ;  the  colored  water  does  indeed  penetrate  more  deeply,  but  the  pig- 
ments do  not.  Another  error  is  to  suppose  that  the  colors  can  be  separated 
from  the  plaster  only  by  destroying  it,  as  also  that  the  colors  do  not  flake  away 
in  fresco.  Several  layers  of  color  can  be  laid  one  above  the  other,  and  each 
of  these  layers  may  flake  if  they  have  been  put  on  without  sufficient  pre- 
caution. 

I  have  said  that  one  of  the  great  difficulties  of  fresco  painting  is  that  the 
work  must  be  completed  while  the  mortar  is  wet.  It  is,  however,  possible  to 
make  certain  after  changes,  and  this  in  two  ways.  The  first  way  is  to  cut  out 
the  portion  of  the  fresco  with  which  the  artist  is  not  satisfied  and  paint  it 
over  again,  after  filling  up  the  space  with  fresh  mortar.  The  second  is  to 
wait  until  the  wall  is  perfectly  dry,  and  then  retouch  in  distemper.  Painting 
in  tempera,  distemper  a  la  dttre7npe  as  the  French  say,  is  painting  on  a  dry 
ground  with  water  colors,  with  which  a  binding  medium  has  been  mixed. 
The  original  meaning  of  the  word  "tempera"  is  that  of  mixture,  as  of 
pigments  with  any  more  or  less  fluid  medium.  In  its  second  and  accepted 
sense  it  implies  the  use  of  a  glutinous  medium,  as  egg,  size,  and  gums, 
binding  substances  originally  soluble  in  water,  as  distinguishable  from  unc- 
tuous or  oily  mediums.  In  its  proper  acceptation  it  means  painting  with  a 
vehicle  or  medium,  in  which  yolk  of  egg  is  the  chief  ingredient.  Yolk  of 
egg  may  be  mixed  in  equal  quantities  with  the  color,  or  the  yolk  and  white 
may  be  beaten  together  and  diluted  with  the  milky  juice  expressed  from  the 
shoots  of  the  fig-tree  ;  or  the  yolk  alone  may  be  so  diluted  ;  or  vinegar  may 
be  substituted  for  fig-tree  juice.  Until  the  introduction  of  oil  painting  which 
followed  upon  Van  Eyck's  discovery,  all  easel  pictures  were  painted  in  tempera 
either  upon  panels,  or  upon  hnen  stretched  on  panels.  In  our  own  day  tem- 
pera is  still  employed  in  Russia,  especially  for  religious  pictures,  also  for  the 
retouching  of  fresco,  and  conjointly  with  oil  colors,  as  by  Moritz  von  Schmidt 
in  his  wall  decorations  of  the  foyer  of  the  new  Opera  House  at  Vienna. 
Helbig,  who  is  the  best  authority  upon  the  methods  of  painting  known  to  the 
ancients,  affirms  (what  has  been  doubted  and  disputed)  that  they  both  knew 
and  practised  fresco  painting,  following,  however,  a  method  which  gave  their 


22 


TJie  Antejix  Papers, 


mural  decorations  a  very  different  appearance  from  those  of  our  own 
time. 

In  ancient  times  no  less  than  six  layers  of  mortar  were  spread  upon  the 
wall,  making  a  much  greater  thickness  than  that  which  modern  fresco 
painters  are  accustomed  to  paint  on.  These  layers  were  successively  laid  on 
the  wall  while  the  under  layer  was  still  wet.  Marble  dust  of  increasing  fine- 
ness was  mixed  with  the  three  last  layers  ;  each  one  was  beaten  down,  and, 
being  polished,  had  a  white  and  shining  surface  like  marble.  "  The  colors," 
says  Vitruvius,  "  being  applied  on  the  moist  stucco,  instead  of  fading,  preserve 
their  freshness,  because  the  chalk,  having  lost  all  its  dampness  in  the  furnace 
and  being  thirsty  by  reason  of  its  dryness,  pumps  up  eagerly  everything 
which  touches  it,  and,  mingling  with  other  substances,  forms  a  composite  body 
which  in  drying  preserves  the  single  qualities  of  each.  The  last  layer, 
which  was  composed  of  marble  pulverized  to  a  powder,  mixed  with  chalk  or 
plaster,  was  about  a  finger  deep.  It  was  hard,  white,  and  polished  as  a  mir- 
ror." The  ancients  distinguished  real  fresco,  what  we  call  "  buoji-fresco^^''  i.  e.  a 
painting  on  the  wet  wall,  which  they  called  udo  tecforio,  from  dry  fresco, 
fresco  secco,  that  is,  painting  on  a  dry  surface,  or  painting  in  arido.  This 
latter  process,  which  is  analogous  to  distemper  painting,  is  of  course  far  less 
solid,  because  the  colors  are  not,  as  in  the  first  case,  incorporated  with  the 
plaster  upon  which  they  are  laid,  but  form  a  separate  and  thin  layer  upon  its 
surface. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  a  much  greater  amount  of  water  was 
contained  in  the  many  layers  of  plaster  which  the  ancients  spread  upon  their 
walls  than  in  the  few  which  are  applied  in  modern  times,  especially  as  each 
fresh  layer  was  put  on  before  the  first  had  dried.  It  remained  damp  conse- 
quently for  a  much  longer  period,  and  thus  the  fresco  painter  was  able  to 
proceed  much  more  slowly  with  his  work,  and  could  execute  very  complicated 
designs  without  being  obliged,  as  in  our  modern  system,  to  work  piece  by 
piece.  The  idea,  then,  that  Pompeiian  ornaments  and  pictures  could  not  be 
executed  in  fresco,  because  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  paint  large 
pictures  and  compHcated  ornaments  before  the  ground  dried,  is  an  erroneous 
one. 

While  speaking  on  this  subject  I  wish  to  say  a  few  words  upon  the  place 
which  fresco  painting  held  in  the  Roman  world  in  the  days  of  the  Empire. 
Curiously  enough,  while  in  the  modern  world  fresco  painting  is  connected 
with  the  highest  period  of  art,  in  the  ancient  it  was  associated  with  its  down- 
fall. The  rapidity  of  execution  and  comparative  cheapness  of  the  process 
led  to  a  neglect  of  easel  or  panel  pictures,  which  in  better  times  had  been 
eagerly  bought  for  immense  prices,  if  painted  by  distinguished  artists.  Both 
in  temples  and  in  private  houses  in  Greece,  before  the  division  of  Alexander's 
great  empire  between  his  generals,  easel  pictures  on  panel  were  probably 
let  into  the  fresco-painted  walls  as  panel  centres.  They  were  not  hung  on 
the  walls  as  in  modern  days,  nor  were  they  copied  in  fresco  upon  wall-panels 
as  at  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii,  until  the  second  half  of  the  third  century 
B.  C.    Then  painted  pilasters  or  arabesque  borders  took  the  place  of  the 


Fresco,  Encaustic,  Etc. 


23 


real  pilasters  used  in  former  times,  and  compositions  were  painted  in  fresco 
on  the  wall,  where  real  pictures  painted  in  encaustic  on  wood  would  have 
been  formerly  hung. 

The  modern  custom  of  displaying  pictures  in  rows,  as  we  see  them  in  our 
houses,  was  contrary  to  the  antique  spirit.  This  demanded  that  a  room 
should  be  a  unit,  and  to  attain  this  end  all  the  works  of  art  in  it  were  so 
arranged  as  to  make  their  connection  with  each  other  and  with  the  architecture 
of  the  room  absolute.  Hence  the  system  of  dividing  the  walls  into 
panels  in  which  easel  pictures  were  enframed.  When  the  cheaper  system  of 
painting  the  entire  wall  in  fresco  was  adopted,  ^zV^^z^r^'Z/^^/^j"  or  picture-galleries 
came  into  fashion.  Our  oldest  description  of  a  picture-gallery  is  that  given 
by  Petronius,  writing  in  the  time  of  Nero.  "  There,"  he  says,  "  were  the  pic- 
tures of  Zeuxis,  still  unspoiled  by  the  wasting  hand  of  time,  and  the  sketches  of 
Protogenes,  rivalling  Nature  herself  in  truth.  These  I  touched  with  a  cer- 
tain feeling  of  awe.  I  admired  also  the  monochromes  of  Apelles,  whose  subtile 
, outlines  seemed  imbued  with  life.  Here  the  sublime  eagle  bore  Ganymede 
to  heaven,  and  there  the  innocent  Hylas  repulsed  an  amorous  nymph.  Further 
on  Apollo  cursed  his  guilty  hands  and  crowned  his  unstrung  lyre  with  the  new- 
born flower." 

The  important  principle  of  general  unity,  which  was  the  basis  of  antique 
decoration,  was  not  lost  sight  of  even  in  the  latter  days  to  which  the  mural 
paintings  at  Pompeii  belong.  Thus  in  freshly  unearthed  chambers  a  pecu- 
liar harmony  between  the  tone  of  the  central  picture  and  that  of  the  sur- 
rounding wall  is  observable.  If  the  wall  is  painted  red,  the  panel  subject  is 
colored  lightly  with  warm  shadows  ;  whereas,  if  the  coloring  of  the  wall 
be  dark,  almost  black,  it  is  painted  in  a  low  scale  of  color  with  corre- 
spondingly low-toned  shadows.  Being  adapted  to  their  surroundings,  both 
in  respect  to  tone  as  correlative  to  that  of  the  surrounding  wall,  and  to 
evenly  distributed  light  falling  upon  them  through  openings  in  the  roof, 
antique  frescoes  appear  at  a  great  disadvantage  when  seen,  as  at  Naples,  in 
the  halls  of  a  museum  where  the  light  falls  full  upon  them.  They  suffer  as 
some  antique  statues  and  all  pediment  groups  do,  by  being  placed  on 
a  level  with  the  eye,  and  lighted  in  an  entirely  different  way  from  that  which 
the  artist  originally  intended.  For  these  reasons  ancient  paintings  seem  to 
us  coarsely  and  hastily  painted,  and  antique  groups  and  single  pediment  fig- 
ures look  out  of  drawing.  The  very  science  of  the  artist,  which  enabled  him 
to  calculate  exactly  how  a  fresco  should  be  painted  to  suit  a  certain  place 
and  light,  or  how  a  statue  should  be  proportioned  which  was  to  be  looked  at 
from  below,  and,  at  a  distance  of  thirty  feet  from  the  spectator,  is  rendered 
nugatory,  and  what  were  real  beauties  are  turned  into  apparent  defects. 
Neither  art,  as  represented  by  existing  remains,  can  be  fairly  appreciated  at 
the  present  day.  The  Elgin  marbles  are  shattered  Iragments  of  a  mighty 
whole  in  which  we  dimly  divine  the  splendor  of  what  was,  from  that  which 
still  is.  How  glorious  they  once  were  we  may  safely  assume,  since  even  in 
their  present  mutilated  condition  they  assert  their  invincible  supremacy 
over  all  else  that  antiquity  has  bequeathed  to  us.    As  for  painting,  it  has  not 


24 


The  Antefix  P aiders. 


even  the  advantage  of  showing  itself  to  us  in  original  works  by  great  masters, 
which,  however  degraded,  still  retain  some  sparks  of  heavenly  fire.  We  know 
the  pictures  of  Zeuxis  and  Protogenes  and  Parrhasius  and  Apelles  only 
through  the  descriptions  of  Pausanias,  Petronius,  and  Pliny,  and  through 
the  supposed  copies  or  reminiscences  of  their  works  which  exist  in  the  fres- 
coes of  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii.  These  cannot  be  positively  traced, 
though  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  clever  fresco  painters  who  decorated 
the  walls  of  the  houses  of  those  buried  cities,  made  use  of  the  compositions 
of  the  great  painters  which  had  become  consecrated  in  the  eyes  of  the  mul- 
titude. They  either  repeated  them  exactly,  or  slightly  varied  them  by  leaving 
out  a  figure  or  a  group,  or  else  abridged  them. 

Greeks,  Etruscans,  and  Romans  were  accustomed  to  adopt  the  composi- 
tions of  distinguished  artists  as  typical  treatments  of  well-known  subjects, 
using  them  as  they  used  forms  of  speech  which  had  by  usage  become  common 
property.  As  the  painters  or  wall-decorators  who  worked  in  the  Campanian 
cities  often  painted  from  memory  without  the  help  of  sketches  or  models, 
these  typical  treatments  were  gradually  modified,  so  that  although  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  many  of  their  works  are  directly  or  indirectly  connected 
with  Hellenic  originals,  it  is  often  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  trace  the  con- 
nection. 

The  speed  with  which  the  decorators  of  the  Empire  worked  and  the  tech- 
nical skill  which  they  possessed  is  apparent  to  any  one  who  examines  the 
mural  paintings  of  the  buried  cities.  Their  minds  were  stored  with  an 
infinite  variety  of  forms  of  ornament ;  their  memories  were  enriched  with  the 
knowledge  of  great  pictures  ;  and  their  hands  were  trained  to  carry  out  the 
ideas  of  others,  of  which  they  had  possessed  themselves,  with  all  the  ease  of 
an  improvisation.  They  were  like  the  great  pianists  of  our  own  time,  Rubin- 
stein and  Von  Bulow,  who  can  play  through  the  works  of  any  composer,  from 
Haydn  to  Liszt,  without  notes,  only  that  they  allowed  themselves  to  take 
liberties  with  the  compositions  of  the  great  painters  which  would  be  justly 
looked  upon  as  unpardonable  if  taken  by  pianists  with  those  of  the  great 
musicians.  In  considering  the  subject  of  painting  in  ancient  times,we  must  note 
that  the  medium  of  the  great  Greek  painters,  was  not  fresco,  but  tempera  or 
encaustic.  I  have  already  explained  the  first,  which  was  practised  in  modern 
times  by  great  artists  until  the  fifteenth  century,  in  the  latter  part  of  which 
oil  painting  was  introduced  into  Italy  from  Germany  and  soon  superseded  it. 
Encaustic  painting,  that  is,  painting  with  fire,  if  we  translate  the  Greek  word 
tvxavarov  literally,  died  out  with  the  great  Greek  artists,  and  its  processes  are 
to  a  certain  extent  secrets  to  us.  Our  chief  authorities  about  its  methods 
are  Pliny  and  Vitruvius,  whose  texts  have  from  their  obscurity  given  rise  to  an 
immense  amount  of  discussion  and  explanation  not  altogether  satisfactory. 
The  standard  work  upon  the  subject  is  the  "  Antica  Arte  "  of  the  Abbate  Re- 
queno,  but  as  this  may  not  be  accessible  to  you,  read  the  article  "  Pictura  "  in 
Smith's  Dictionary,  which  contains  general  ideas  upon  the  subject ;  and  you 
may  also  consult  upon  this,  as  upon  many  other  important  points  connected 
with  ancient  art,  Miiller's  "Ancient  Art  and  Its  Remains,"  translated  from  the 
German  by  John  Leitch  (London,  1852). 


FrescOy  Encaustic^  Etc, 


25 


Pliny  speaks  of  three  kinds  of  encaustic  painting :  — 

1.  The  burning  in  of  outlines  on  ivory  tablets  with  the  stylus  or  cestrum, 
a  metal  instrument,  such  as  the  ancients  used  for  writing  memoranda  on 
wax  tablets,  pointed  at  one  end  and  broad  and  flat  at  the  other,  —  the 
pointed  end  for  writing,  and  the  flat  end  for  erasing. 

2.  The  applying  of  colored  wax  with  hot  pencil,  and  the  after  operation  of 
blending  and  softening  the  tints  together. 

3.  The  painting  of  ships  with  brushes  dipped  in  fluid  wax  mixed  with 
pitch,  which  not  only  ornamented  but  protected  them  from  the  action  of  the 
salt  water. 

It  seems  tolerably  certain  that  the  great  pictures  of  Apelles  and  his  peers 
were  painted  with  wet  cold  colors  which  were  laid  on  with  dissolved  wax  ; 
a  small  rod  heated  at  one  end  was  then  passed  along  the  surface  to  blend  the 
colors  together  and  to  give  them  transparency  and  depth.  The  wax  was  boiled 
with  mastic,  in  the  proportion  of  two  to  five  parts,  and  then  allowed  to  cool. 
The  wax  itself,  called  Punic  wax,  was  purified  and  bleached  before  it  was  used. 
Requeno  [Vol.  i,  p.  277]  says  that  a  Greek  or  Roman  painter's  studio  was  fur- 
nished with  the  following  objects  :  Punic  wax  colors,  brushes  of  silk,  pans  and 
boxes  to  hold  tinted  wax,  mastic,  and  other  resinous  gums,  bitumen,  a  sponge, 
wax  candles,  a  basin  of  water  to  clean  the  brushes,  clean  towels,  rods  and  styli 
of  iron,  waxed  tablets  to  make  sketches  on,  a  mortar  to  grind  the  colors  boiled 
with  wax,  ivory  tablets,  and  an  easel  in  the  shape  of  a  tripod.  Thus  fur- 
nished, the  painter  had  all  necessary  materials  for  the  three  different  methods 
of  encaustic  painting  mentioned  by  Pliny. 

We  have  none  of  the  masterpieces  of  the  great  Greek  painters  to  compare 
with  those  of  our  great  painters,  but  we  read  descriptions  of  them  in  ancient 
authors  as  enthusiastic  as  those  which  are  written  nowadays  of  the  pic- 
tures of  the  great  Venetian  painters  ;  and  from  what  we  know  of  the  consum- 
mate taste  and  knowledge  of  the  Greeks,  we  must  believe  that  they  did  not 
misapply  terms. 

In  reading  them,  however,  we  are  at  once  struck  with  the  fact  that  one  of 
the  great  merits  of  the  pictures  of  Zeuxis  and  Parrhasius  was  the  illusion 
which  they  offered  to  the  senses.  To  imitate  nature  so  closely  that  not  only 
birds  but  men  may  be  deceived,  is  not  only  a  thing  impossible  to  our  painters, 
but  even  if  done  would  not  place  those  who  did  it  in  the  first  rank.  If  it 
were  so,  the  Dutch  school  would  stand  first  in  our  estimation,  and  a  Van 
Huysum  or  a  Seyboldt  or  a  Denner  would  rank  above  a  Raphael,  You  must 
not,  however,  suppose  that  the  great  Greek  painters  confined  themselves  to 
such  feats  of  color-juggling  as  those  here  referred  to.  These  were  feats  of 
technical  skill  which  were  so  surprising  that  they  excited  wonder  and  were 
recorded  ;  but  Parrhasius  won  his  title  of  a  law-giver  in  art,  not  because  he 
could  paint  a  curtain  so  perfectly  that  Zeuxis  even  was  taken  in  and  put  out 
his  hand  to  raise  it,  but  because  he  painted  gods  and  heroes  in  such  perfec- 
tion that  they  became  types  to  the  artists  who  followed  him. 

If,  as  we  gather  from  the  stories  above  referred  to,  encaustic  painting  was 
capable  of  giving  extraordinary  illusive  effects,  it  was  also,  as  we  know  from 
4 


26 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


the  descriptions  of  such  a  famous  picture  as  the  Venus  Anadyomene  of 
Apelles,  capable  of  rendering  the  color  and  texture  of  flesh  with  marvellous 
beauty  and  truth.  The  paintings  of  Apelles  and  the  sculptures  of  Ly- 
sippus  were  the  culminating  glories  of  pictorial  and  plastic  art  in  the 
days  of  Alexander,  and  the  technical  perfection  of  one  was  evidently  not 
at  all  surpassed  or  outdone  by  that  of  the  other.  The  high  grade  occu- 
pied by  the  painters  of  easel  pictures  is  pointed  out  by  Pliny.  They 
treated  mythological  and  historic  subjects  in  the  noblest  style,  and  were 
held  in  an  esteem  which  was  not  accorded  to  such  mural  decorators  as  the 
artists  who  painted  in  fresco  at  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii.  To  a  certain 
extent,  however,  mural  paintings  in  fresco  were  assimilated  to  encaustic 
paintings  in  appearance,  as  an  encaustic  varnish  was  passed  over  them  to 
preserve  them  and  to  give  them  brilliancy.  This  varnish,  which  was  made  of 
wax  and  mastic,  was  laid  on  and  then  cauterized  or  melted  upon  the  surface 
by  means  of  a  brazier  containing  lighted  coals.  When  we  compare  ancient 
frescoes,  as  we  beheve  them  to  have  been,  and  modern  frescoes,  we  find  that 
they  little  resembled  each  other,  the  only  points  in  common  being  that  both 
were  painted  on  freshly-laid  mortar,  of  great  thickness  and  many  coats 
in  the  one  case,  and  of  comparative  thinness  and  laid  on  piecemeal  in 
the  other.  While  the  ancient  fresco  presented  a  polished  and  marble- 
like or  enamelled  surface  to  the  eye,  the  modern  fresco  is  clear  and  trans- 
parent, non-absorbent  of  light,  and  therefore  non-reflectant.  To  see  an  oil 
painting  to  advantage,  indeed  to  see  it  at  all,  the  spectator  must  see  it  in  a 
proper  light ;  whereas  the  fresco  painting  rather  throws  out  light,  and  is  thus 
peculiarly  adapted  for  the  decoration  of  dimly-illuminated  churches  and  public 
buildings.  The  breadth  of  effect  attainable,  the  quickness  of  hand  neces- 
sary to  its  successful  use,  which  gave  a  certain  character  of  improvisation  to 
the  finished  work,  also  recommended  it  to  the  great  Italian  painters.  After 
the  revival  of  painting  in  the  thirteenth  century,  it  superseded  mosaic,  which 
had  long  been  the  only  method  used  for  church  decoration,  and  from  Giotto 
to  Raphael  continued  to  be  practised  with  wonderful  results. 

The  preference  of  the  Italians  for  frescoed  wall  decoration  was  one  of  the 
reasons  why  Gothic  architecture  never  fully  established  itself  in  Italy, 
while  the  preference  of  the  Northern  nations  for  Gothic  buildings  was  the 
reason  why  fresco  never  obtained  favor  north  of  the  Alps.  The  Germans  pre- 
ferred tall  lancet  windows,  filled  with  stained  glass,  which,  by  the  transmission 
of  colored  light,  painted  the  interior  with  shifting  colors  so  long  as  the  sun 
shone  through  them.  The  Italians,  on  the  contrary,  clinging  to  their  old 
traditions,  delighted  in  frescoed  walls,  and,  that  they  might  be  seen,  made 
wide  openings  in  them,  which  are  incompatible  with  Gothic  exigencies.  The 
history  of  fresco  painting  in  Italy  is  really  the  true  history  of  pamting  from 
the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  to  the  latter  half  of  the  sixteenth  century.  It 
begins  with  the  works  of  Cimabue  and  Giotto,  at  the  Church  of  St.  Fran- 
cis at  Assisi,  and  culminates  in  the  splendid  creations  of  Raphael  at  the 
Vatican,  and  of  Michelangelo  in  the  Sistine  Chapel.  What  other  art  can  boast 
such  an  illustrious  lineage  as  this  ?    Cimabue,  Giotto,  Orgagna,  Masaccio, 


FrescOy  Encaustic,  Etc, 


27 


Da  Vinci,  Perugino,  Raphael,  Razzi,  Michelangelo,  and  after  them  the  Caracci, 
Guido, Carlo  Maratta,  Pietro  da  Cortona,  and  Raphael  Mengs  ;  nay,  we  need 
not  stop  here,  for  the  art,  as  revived  at  Rome  in  the  early  part  of  this  cen- 
tury, was  practised  by  a  group  of  young  German  painters  who  became 
famous,  —  Overbeck,  Schadow,  CorneHus,  and  Veit. 

I  suspect  that  the  chief  reason  why  this  attempted  German  revival  at  Rome 
never  led  to  any  abiding  result  is  that,  of  all  styles  of  painting,  fresco  demands 
the  most  knowledge,  and  the  most  ready  use  of  that  knowledge,  in  the  painter. 
The  painter  in  tempera,  in  oil,  in  water  color,  the  goldsmith,  the  sculptor, 
the  engraver,  may  dawdle  over  his  work  as  he  will ;  he  may  change  it,  and 
retouch  it  ad  libitum;  he  may  leave  it  for  years  and  take  it  up  again  without 
detriment  to  it.  Not  so  the  fresco  painter  :  he  must  have  his  work  all  planned 
and  thought  out  beforehand,  like  a  general  who  is  on  the  eve  of  a  great 
battle,  though,  unlike  him,  he  cannot  hope  to  take  advantage  of  the  enemy's 
mistakes,  and,  by  some  suddenly-conceived  change  of  plan,  convert  defeat 
into  victory.  The  obstacles  to  his  success  are  fixed,  and  he  must  rely 
upon  the  readiness  of  his  hand  and  eye  to  overcome  them.  He  must  be 
a  quick  and  good  draughtsman  and  colorist ;  he  must  know  how  the  colors 
which  he  lays  on  the  wet  wall  will  look  when  they  are  dry,  so  that  in  begin- 
ning his  next  day's  work  on  a  freshly-laid  piece  of  mortar  he  may  not  mis- 
match tints  ;  then  again  he  must  be  able  to  undergo  a  considerable  amount  of 
physical  fatigue  and  annoyance,  —  run  the  risk  of  catching  cold  and  fever  by 
working  in  damp  places,  all  which  risks  and  fatigues  are  greatly  increased  if 
he  be  employed  in  painting  the  ceiling  of  some  great  chapel  or  room.  The 
standard  example  of  the  troubles  of  the  fresco  painter  is  that  which  is 
furnished  by  Michelangelo's  account  of  his  work  at  the  Sistine  Chapel. 
Cooped  up  in  a  narrow  space  between  the  top  of  a  scaffolding  and  the  ceiling, 
upon  which  he  worked  out  the  mighty  figures  of  sibyls  and  prophets  and 
genii,  and  portrayed  the  story  of  man's  early  history  as  related  in  the  book 
of  Genesis,  he  remained  for  months  together  a  prisoner  condemned  to  hard 
labor.  So  much  was  his  sight  affected  by  the  necessarily  abnormal  position 
of  his  head,  that  for  a  long  time  after  he  had  finished  his  work  he  could  not 
read  a  book  as  ordinarily  held,  but  was  obliged  to  hold  it  up  above  his  head. 
Did  you  ever  read  the  sonnet  which  he  wrote  to  his  friend  Giovanni  da 
Pistoza  in  1609  while  working  upon  this  ceiling  ?  On  the  margin  of  the  original 
he  made  a  sketch  of  himself  in  the  position  described  in  the  sonnet :  — 

I 've  grown  a  goitre  by  dwelling  in  this  den,  / 

As  cats  from  stagnant  dens  in  Lombardy 

Or  in  whatever  land  they  hap  to  be, 

Which  drives  the  belly  close  beneath  the  chin  ; 

My  beard  turns  up  to  heaven,  my  nape  falls  in. 

Fixed  on  my  spine  ;  my  breast-bone  visibly 

Grows  like  a  harp  ;  a  rich  embroidery 

Bedews  my  face  from  brush-drops  thick  and  thin. 


28  The  A7ttefix  Papers. 

My  loins  into  my  paunch  like  levers  grind  ; 

My  buttock  like  a  crupper  bears  my  weight ; 

My  feet  unguided  wander  to  and  fro  ; 

In  front  my  skin  grows  loose  and  long ;  behind 

By  bending  it  becomes  more  taut  and  straight. 

Backward  I  bend  me  like  a  Syrian  bow, 

Whence  false  and  quaint  I  know, 

Must  be  the  fruit  of  squinting  brain  and  eye ; 

For  ill  can  aim  the  gun  that  bends  awry  ! 

Come  then,  Giovanni,  try 

To  succor  my  dead  pictures  and  my  fame  ; 

Since  foul  I  fare,  and  painting  is  my  shame." 

I  have  often  thought  vi^hen  visiting  the  Sistine  Chapel  that  it  would  be 
very  interesting  to  get  near  to  the  ceiling  and  examine  Michelangelo's  work 
near  by ;  but  this  is  as  impossible  as  it  would  be  to  reach  the  stars.  One 
looks  up  at  the  mighty  figures  as  one  looks  up  at  the  planets  in  the  firmament, 
and  wonders,  not  what  they  are,  but  what  they  would  look  like,  if  one  could 
get  into  their  immediate  neighborhood.  Other  frescoes  by  great  Italians  are 
more  accessible,  as,  for  instance,  those  of  Raphael  in  the  Stanze  of  the  Vati- 
can. The  rooms  are  comparatively  low,  and  the  bottom  of  the  fresco  is 
only  a  few  feet  from  the  ground.  To  study  them  closely,  or  to  copy  single 
heads,  an  artist  is  permitted  to  use  a  ladder,  with  a  platform  at  the  top  large 
enough  to  sit  upon.  I  availed  myself  of  this  possibility  a  good  many  years  ago 
while  living  in  Rome,  and  made  two  studies  from  the  Heliodorus  which  I  have 
brought  with  me,  —  one  of  the  head  of  the  warrior  on  horseback  who  has  over- 
thrown the  plunderer  of  the  treasures  of  the  Temple,  and  the  other  of  the 
entire  group,  with  the  two  messengers  of  divine  vengeance,  who  swoop  down 
like  eagles  upon  their  prey.  The  single  head  was  copied,  not  from  a  distance 
as  it  was  intended  to  be  seen,  but  near  by.  The  expression  seems  somewhat 
forced,  and  it  is  so  in  order  that  the  spectator  standing  below  may  receive  a 
strong  impression.  If  you  place  yourself  close  to  an  orator  speaking  in  a 
large  hall,  you  will  think  he  raises  his  voice  too  much,  which  indeed  he  does 
for  you,  but  not  for  those  who  sit  at  a  great  distance  from  him.  So  a 
painter  who  speaks  in  colors  from  a  distance  must  exaggerate  expres- 
sion and  paint  in  broad  masses,  which  will  be  effective  at  a  distance.  This 
is  one  of  the  points  of  difficulty  which  the  fresco  painter  must  k^ow-enough 
to  overcome.  He  must  be  able  to  calculate  his  effects  proportionately 
to  the  relative  distance  which  is  to  intervene  between  them  and  those  who 
are  to  see  them.  Michelangelo  began  his  work  at  the  Sistine  Chapel  on  a 
miscalculation  :  the  first  panel  which  he  painted,  the  Brazen  Serpent,  is,  from 
the  small  scale  on  which  the  figures  are  painted,  entirely  ineffective  from  the 
floor  of  the  chapel.  Seeing  this,  the  great  artist  conducted  the  remainder  on 
a  very  different  scale,  and  the  result  was  a  triumphant  success. 

The  decline  of  fresco  painting  in  Italy,  where  alone  it  ever  really  flour- 
ished, kept  pace  with  the  decline  in  art.  With  Raphael  and  Michelangelo 
and  Corregio  and  the  great  Venetians  it  reached  its  apogee,  precisely 


Fresco,  Encaustic^  Etc. 


29 


because  it  is  essentially  the  fittest  form  of  painting  for  the  expression  of  the 
high  art  of  which  they  were  the  apostles.  After  them  Domenichino  at  Grotto 
Ferrata,  Guido  in  the  RospigHosi  Palace,  the  Caracci  at  the  Farnese,  all 
painted  frescoes  of  great  merit ;  but  then  came  the  turn  of  such  wall  deco- 
rators as  Luca  fa  Presto  and  Pietro  da  Cortona,  who  covered  acres  of  walls 
with  frescoes,  painted  with  skill  and  wonderful  facility,  but  mannered,  extrav- 
agant, and  void  of  style.  Turned  to  such  ignoble  ends,  the  art  died  a  lingering 
death,  whose  throes  are  not  worth  watching.  It  was  revived,  or,  rather,  gal- 
vanized into  a  seeming  life,  early  in  this  century  at  Rome  by  a  set  of  young 
German  painters, —  Cornelius,  Overbeck,  Schadow,  and  Veit,  —  who,  under 
the  patronage  of  the  Crown  Prince  of  Bavaria,  afterward  the  famous  King 
Louis,  believed  themselves  destined  to  found  a  school  which  should  be 
worthy  to  take  rank  with  that  of  the  sixteenth  century,  which  had  written  its 
record  in  immortal  shapes  upon  the  walls  of  the  Vatican,  the  Sistine  Chapel, 
and  the  Farnesina.  As  fresco  was  the  fitting  language  for  the  high  art  to 
which  they  devoted  themselves,  they  desired  to  employ  it.  The  Prussian 
Consul,  Herr  Bartholdy,  placed  one  of  the  rooms  in  his  apartments  at  the 
Palazzo  Zuccheri  in  the  Via  Sistina  at  their  disposal ;  and  there  Overbeck 
^painted  "Joseph  sold  by  His  Brethren,"  Schadow,  "  Isaac  receiving  the  News 
of  Joseph's  Death,"  Cornelius,  "  The  Meeting  ot  Joseph  and  Benjamin,"  and 
Veit,  "The  Age  of  Iron  and  the  Age  of  Silver."  Overbeck,  Schadow,  and 
Veit,  late  converts  to  Romanism,  with  others  of  their  way  of  thinking,  formed 
a  party  at  Rome  which  went  by  the  name  of  the  Nazarene.  They  looked 
upon  art  as  the  servant  of  rehgion,  led  very  simple  lives,  affected  a  certain 
austerity  of  demeanor,  were,  in  short,  neo-mystics,  who  copied  as  far  as  pos- 
sible the  style  and  sentiment  of  a  bygone  age.  Thorwaldsen,  Koch,  and 
Schlick  were  the  leaders  of  a  pagan  or  classical  party  in  art,  who  zealously 
studied  the  antique,  and  drew  their  nutriment  from  no  other  source.  Cornelius 
stood  midway  between  the  two  parties ;  he  had  been  brought  up  in 
the  Church  of  Rome,  but,  although  thus  naturally  allied  with  the  Nazarenes, 
he  had  such  a  horror  of  proselytism  that  he  openly  declared  that  he  would 
become  a  Protestant  as  soon  as  the  Nazarenes  made  their  first  convert  to 
Romanism.  The  frescoes  which  Overbeck,  Cornelius,  and  Schadow  painted 
at  the  Palazzo  Zuccheri  are  really  interesting,  because  they  are  the  first  fruits 
of  the  unquestionable  talent  of  the  founders  of  a  school  who,  though  working 
on  a  false  principle,  were  earnestly  and  devoutly  convinced  of  the  sanctity 
of  their  mission.  They  appear  in  them  to  much  greater  advantage  than  in 
their  later  works,  because  these  are  more  and  more  disfigured  with  that  man- 
nerism which,  especially  in  the  case  of  Cornelius,  as  he  appears  in  his 
illustrations  of  the  Iliad  at  Munich,  was  the  bane  of  their  art.  Of  the  three, 
Overbeck  will,  perhaps,  live  longest,  though  he  was  an  anachronism  in  his  art 
as  in  his  appearance.  Meeting  him  in  the  streets  of  Rome,  or  seeing 
him,  as  I  have  often  seen  him,  in  his  studio,  clad  in  a  long  purple  robe  bor- 
dered with  gray  fur,  and  with  a  cap  of  the  same  material  and  trimmings  upon 
his  head,  you  would  have  thought  that  he  had  stepped  out  of  one  of  Holbein's 
pictures.    As  he  thus  in  his  person  affected  the  costume  of  a  past  time,  so  in 


30 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


his  works  he  repeated  the  outward  pattern  of  a  phase  of  art  which  holds  that 
high  place  in  man's  esteem  accorded  to  every  genuine  growth  and  vital 
expression  of  an  age,  but  which  cannot  be  given  to  any  imitation,  however 
cleverly  accomplished,  by  men  living  in  and  belonging  to  a  later  period,  whose 
thoughts,  ideas,  and  aims  are  totally  different.  The  later  history  of  fresco 
painting  takes  us  across  the  Alps  to  Bavaria.  Here,  under  Louis  of  Bavaria, 
the  hitherto  unimportant  capital  of  a  small  European  kingdom  became  the 
nursery  of  the  new  German  school.  Munich  was  the  stage  upon  which  King 
Louis  enacted  the  part  of  Leo  X,  surrounded  by  the  counterfeit  present- 
ments of  the  great  Italian  artists  who  made  Rome  really  what  this  new 
centre  of  the  arts  aspired  to  be.  Van  Klenze,  the  architect,  played  the  part 
of  Bramante,  Schwanthaler,  the  sculptor,  that  of  Michelangelo,  while  Cor- 
nelius, Hess,  J  ulius  Schnorr,  and  Kaulbach  completed  the  troup  as  the 
modern  representatives  of  Raphael  and  his  scholars.  These  men,  by  their 
buildings,  statues,  and  frescoes,  made  Munich  what  it  is,  —  a  pale  copy  of  the 
Rome  and  Florence  of  the  sixteenth  century,  oddly  jumbled  with  reminis- 
cences of  other  centuries  in  Italy  and  Greece.  As  one  walks  about  its  streets 
one  feels  as  if  in  a  dream,  so  disconnected  are  these  reminiscences  and  so 
mixed  up  with  the  antagonisms  of  modern  hfe.  Here  is  a  Basilica,  there  an  , 
exact  copy  of  the  Loggia  of  Orgagna  at  Florence  ;  the  theatre  is  called  the 
Odeon,  the  picture-gallery  the  Pinacothek,  and  the  sculpture-gallery,  which  is 
the  most  perfect  reproduction  of  a  Greek  building  attempted  in  modern 
times,  is  known  as  the  Glypthotek.  The  great  buildings  are  adorned  with 
frescoes  whose  subjects  are  taken  from  the  Iliad,  from  the  lives  of  saints  and 
martyrs,  from  German  history,  from  the  works  of  poets,  ancient  and  modern. 
The  frescoes,  with  which  we  have  more  especially  to  do,  are  complicated 
and  mannered  in  design  and  crude  and  disagreeable  in  color.  Among  them, 
those  of  Professor  Hess,  in  the  Basilica,  are  by  far  the  best ;  those  of  Cor- 
nelius, the  worst  in  design,  color,  and  taste. 

Even  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances  as  regards  climate  and  free- 
dom from  the  destructive  influences  of  dampness,  smoke,  acid,  vapors,  etc. 
etc.,  frescoes  fade  and  change  with  time.  If  this  be  the  case  in  Italy,  for 
instance,  it  is  greatly  aggravated  in  more  northern  countries,  such  as  Bava- 
ria, where  great  alternations  of  heat  and  cold  prevail.  To  decorate  the  ex- 
terior of  buildings  with  frescoes,  as  the  German  artists  employed  by  King 
Louis  attempted  to  do,  was  merely  to  throw  away  time  and  labor  ;  and  this 
led  to  the  invention  of  a  new  method  of  mural  decoration,  which,  however 
inferior  in  quality  to  fresco  painting,  claims  the  advantage  of  indestructibility. 
I  refer  to  stereochromy  or  water-glass  painting,  which  was  employed  by 
Kaulbach  for  the  great  wall  paintings  which  he  executed  in  the  new  museum 
at  Berlin.  The  word  stereochromy  is  derived  from  two  Greek  words,  rfrspsoc:, 
solid,  firm,  and  ^pojxa,  color.  Water-glass  is  soluble  alkaline  silicate,  — 
i.  e.  silicate  (fluid)  rendered  soluble  by  boiling  it  with  an  alkali,  such  as 
potash,  soda,  or  lime.  This  fluid  glass  (for  it  is  really  nothing  but  ordinary 
glass  in  a  different  form)  is  infused  into  the  wall  through  its  facial  painting. 
The  mortar  spread  upon  the  wall  is  composed  of  quartz,  sand,  and  lime,  all 


Fresco^  Encaustic^  Etc. 


31 


which  are  ingredients  of  glass  ;  these  ingredients  in  glass  are  chemically 
united,  whereas  in  plaster  they  are  held  together  by  virtue  of  the  common 
law  of  cohesive  attraction.  The  principle,  then,  of  the  whole  operation  is 
the  homoeopathic  principle  of  "  Similis  sijnilibus^''  —  like  to  like.  The 
plaster  drinks  in  the  water-glass,  for  which  it  has  a  natural  appetency,  and 
the  whole  becomes  a  solid  mass  of  which  the  colors  used  in  painting  before 
the  water-glass  is  applied  form  a  component  part.  These  details  of  the 
new  process  are  taken  from  a  report  made  by  Daniel  Maclise,  the  well- 
known  English  historical  painter,  for  the  "  Commissions  on  the  Fine  Arts." 
Maclise  visited  Munich  and  Berlin,  saw  Kaulbach  and  his  pupils  at  work, 
and  made  many  experiments  with  a  view  to  the  decoration  of  the  new  Houses 
of  Parliament  by  the  same  method.  Had  these  decorations  by  Maclise,  Her- 
bert, and  other  English  artists  been  less  weak  and  unsatisfactory  than  they 
are,  we  should  have  less  reason  to  deplore  the  fact  that,  being  painted  in 
a  material  over  which  time  and  climate  have  no  power,  they  are  likely  to 
last,  unless  deliberately  destroyed.  This  is  a  misfortune,  for  to  him  who 
l>rs  seen  them  once,  no  desire  remains  to  see  them  again. 

Mr.  Layard,  who  was  one  of  the  most  earnest  promoters  of  the  proposed 
decoration  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  in  a  paper  read  before  the  Royal 
Institute  of  British  Architects,  states  that  some  of  the  frescoes  had  hardly 
been  painted  in  the  Houses  of  Parliament  befpre  decay  commenced,  and 
many  of  them,  he  adds,  "  are  even  already  almost  gone."  This  was  not  due  to 
any  defect  in  the  materials,  but  to  the  insidious  attacks  of  London  smoke, 
against  which  even  water-glass,  as  he  fears,  will  not  be  able  to  stand.  The 
opinion  of  Dr.  Percy,  whose  opinion  Mr.  Layard  quotes  as  that  of  one  who 
had  formed  it  after  careful  scientific  examination  and  analysis,  is  "  that  no 
wall  painting,  however  executed,  can  resist  an  atmosphere  impregnated  as 
that  of  London  is  with  the  chemical  substances  evolved  from  the  consump- 
tion of  coal."  Convinced  of  the  correctness  of  this  opinion,  Mr.  Layard 
turned  his  attention  to  glass  mosaic,  brought  over  Salviati  to  England,  and 
thus  introduced  a  method  of  decorating  walls,  externally  or  internally,  which 
even  the  London  atmosphere,  that  "  edax  rerum  oinniutn^''  will,  it  is  to  be 
supposed,  find  it  hard  to  digest. 


III. 


COLOR:  THE  ORIGIN  OF  PIGMENTS  AND  THEIR 
CHEMICAL  ACTION. 

Color  is  the  immaterial  result  of  the  decomposition  of  light  by  material 
substances.  It  is  a  soul-element,  as  it  were,  of  matter,  revealed  through 
things  which  are  "  of  the  earth,  earthy,"  and  made  known  to  us  by  that  great 
interpreter  of  mysterious  phenomena  called  Chemistry.  It  is  presented  to 
us  independent  of  substance  only  in  the  image  of  the  prismatic  spectrum. 

The  physical  bases  which  decompose  light,  thereby  enabling  us  to  deter- 
mine the  character  of  its  constituent  properties,  are  called  pigments.  These 
are  either  simple  and  original,  as  Nature  gives  them  to  us,  or  they  are  the 
result  of  chemical  change  and  combination,  the  former  being  generally 
considered  superior.  While  she  supplies  them  abundantly  from  all  her  store- 
houses, by  far  the  largest  number  are  of  mineral  origin,  either  haloid  com- 
pounds of  various  metals  or  certain  insoluble  salts  of  these. 

Most  commonly  oxides  constitute  paints  —  as  in  the  case  of  the  ochre 
tribe,  from  yellow  to  purple  —  and  chemical  combinations  of  oxides  ;  also 
chlorides,  iodides,  sulphides,  carbonates,  phosphates,  chromates,  acetates,  etc. 
Many,  also,  are  derived  from  the  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms,  either 
directly  —  as  sepia  from  the  cuttle-fish,  and  certain  colored  resins,  as  gamboge, 
etc.,  from  plants  —  or  indirectly,  through  chemical  agency. 

Under  certain  conditions,  pigments  are  subject  to  peculiar  accidental 
changes,  —  gradual  sometimes,  sometimes  immediate.  These  are  generally 
occasioned  by  careless  combination  of  inimical  substances,  by  reciprocal 
action  or  by  foul  air,  gases,  dampness,  etc. 

Unfortunately,  pigments  are  especially  liable  to  come  in  contact  with  the 
last  three  foes  mentioned  directly  they  are  placed  upon  any  work  of  art ; 
hence,  it  behooves  all  possible  Turners  to  take  heed  lest  history  repeat  itself, 
and  darkened  chromate-of-lead-skies  continue  to  be  contrasted  with  "  the 
pure  limpidity  "  of  those  "  ever  luminous  "  ones  of  Claude.  But  perhaps 
the  danger  least  guarded  against,  because  least  considered,  is  the  indiscrimi- 
nate mixture  of  pigments,  the  results  of  which  are  occasionally  unexpected, 
not  to  say  undesirable. 


Origin  of  Pigments  and  their  Chemical  Action.  33 


In  view  of  this,  before  admitting  any  pigment  to  such  a  place  of  trust  as 
the  palette,  a  close  investigation  into  the  manners  and  customs  of  each  sepa- 
rate species  would  doubtless  not  be  injudicious,  A  cursory  glance,  therefore, 
at  the  individual  peculiarities  of  a  large  number  of  those  in  most  general  use 
will  follow  hereafter.  While  some  hold  letters  patent  from  high  authorities, 
there  are  yet  many  with  doubtful  credentials,  whose  worthiness  of  pubUc  con- 
fidence time  only  can  establish. 

Many  very  beautiful  colors  have  within  a  few  years  been  prepared  from 
coal-tar,  but  proving  unstable,  they  are  now  seldom  used  except  for  dyeing 
purposes.  Among  these,  the  brilliant  mauve,  magenta,  and  azuline  may  be 
mentioned  as  examples. 

The  most  permanent  colors  are  the  earths  and  ochres,  and  such  mineral 
substances  as  are  not  destroyed  by  fire  and  lime.  Some  of  these,  unhappily, 
are  less  beautiful  than  many  of  the  fugitive  ones,  and  in  consequence,  it  often 
happens  that  discretion  is  not  the  better  part  of  painting. 

The  terms  "permanent  "  and  "  fugitive  "  have  no  absolute,  only  a  relative 
signification  ;  for  instance,  ultramarine,  which  will  endure  a  hundred  cen- 
turies, under  ordinary  circumstances,  may  be  destroyed  in  a  moment  by  a  drop 
of  lemon  ;  and  the  generally  fugitive  carmine,  if  hidden  under  a  bushel,  her- 
metically sealed,  and  put  just  where  one  would  never  want  to  put  it,  will  last 
for  ages.  Again,  white  lead,  extremely  sensitive  to  the  quality  of  the  atmos- 
phere, will  retain  its  whiteness  for  almost  any  length  of  time  in  pure  air,  only 
to  blacken  after  a  few  hours'  or  days'  exposure  to  foul  air.  Pure  air  and 
sunshine  will  restore  it,  however,  as  will  also  an  apphcation  of  oxygenated 
water. 

It  has  been  supposed,  and  not  unreasonably,  that  pigments,  protected  by 
oils  and  varnishes,  were  safe  from  any  possibility  of  change.  The  assump- 
tion would  be  warranted  if  we  had  an  impenetrable  varnish ;  and  even  that 
would  not  resist  the  action  of  light,  though  it  might  resist  dampness  and 
impure  air.  Moreover,  the  varnishes  and  oils  themselves  have  a  tendency  to 
darken  (thereby  obscuring)  what  it  is  pretended  they  keep  from  obscurity. 

With  regard  to  permanency,  the  good  repute  of  many  permanent  pigments 
is  often  injured  by  careless  admixture  of  fugitive  ones.  To  this  latter  class 
belong  a  large  number  that  are  transparent,  as  the  cochineal  lakes,  the  yellow 
dyewood  lakes,  and  such  as  are  of  organic  origin. 

While  it  is  the  tendency  of  transparent  pigments  to  fade,  those  earthy  and 
metallic  are  inclined  to  darken,  yet  both  are  essential  to  good  painting. 

Beginning  with  the  neutrals,  black  and  white,  which  are  said  to  compre- 
hend the  synthesis  and  analysis  of  all  color,  we  will  now  notice  some  of  the 
chemical  relations  and  characteristics  of  pigments  individually. 

Good  whites  are  especially  essential  to  the  artist,  as  they  form  the  basis 
of  all  opaque  painting. 

Flake  white,  having  more  body  than  any  other  white,  hence  preferable,  is 
a  carbonate  of  lead,  with  an  excess  of  oxide,  prepared  by  exposing  thin 
sheets  of  blue  lead  to  the  fumes  of  vinegar,  in  beds  of  fermenting  tan. 

It  is  necessary  to  use  a  rapidly  drying  vehicle  with  all  white  leads,  as  they 


34 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


are  always  endangered  by  foul  air  and  gases.  Millions  of  dollars  have  been 
expended  in  trying  to  find  a  substitute  for  them. 

Zinc  white,  an  oxide  of  zinc,  unaffected  by  bad  air  and  gases,  may  be  used 
over  lead  whites,  but  it  is  too  feeble  in  body  to  take  the  place  of  them. 

The  brightest  white  used  in  oil  is  Kremnitz,  also  a  carbonate  of  lead  lack- 
ing body.  All  lead  whites  are  carbonates  of  that  metal,  except  Flemish 
white,  which  is  a  sulphate,  and  Pattison's  white,  which  is  an  oxychloride. 
The  latter  is  partially  soluble  in  water,  therefore  ineligible. 

Lead  whites  cannot  be  used  in  water  color,  fresco,  or  distemper,  as  they 
require  the  protection  of  oil  or  varnish. 

The  only  white  possessing  both  body  and  permanence  is  Chinese  white,  an 
oxide  of  zinc,  not  used  in  oil. 

Black.  —  The  coloring  principle  of  all  black  pigments  is  charcoal  or  carbon. 

Black  lead,  plumbago,  or  graphite  contains  no  lead  whatever,  only  carbon  ; 
some  iron,  perhaps,  with  a  trace  of  silica  or  alumina. 

Blue  black  is  composed  of  calcined  vine-stalks,  etc.,  and  is  very  durable. 
A  small  quantity  mixed  with  white  lead  will  act  as  a  preservative.  This  is 
owing  to  a  bleaching  power  which  carbon  possesses. 

Ivory  black  is  animal  charcoal,  or  ivory  calcined  by  strong  heat  in  close 
vessels.  It  must  not  be  mixed  with  vegetable  or  organic  pigments  in  water, 
as  it  has  a  power  to  absorb  such  substances.  Put  into  a  solution  of  them,  it 
will,  in  time,  render  the  water  quite  clear  and  limpid. 

Various  accounts  are  given  of  the  mode  of  preparing  the  Chinese  product 
Indian  Ink,  but  according  to  analysis  it  possesses  the  properties  of  lamp- 
black largely,  some  sepia,  and  about  two  per  cent  of  camphor.  Bone-black 
and  lamp-black  are  what  their  names  suggest,  —  calcined  bones  and  soot  from 
resinous  woods.  Manganese  black  is  an  oxide  of  that  metal ;  it  has  great 
body,  and  is  the  best  of  all  blacks  for  drying  in  oil. 

Yellow.  —  Yellow,  the  first  primary,  is  found  in  abundance  everywhere,  yet 
for  some  reason  very  little  was  used  among  the  ancients,  its  place  being  sup- 
phed  by  gold.  In  its  chemical  relations  it  very  much  resembles  white.  Nature, 
rarely  so  prodigal  with  her  gifts  of  excellence  as  to  bestow  a  multiplicity 
upon  one  object,  has  been  peculiarly  lavish  to  two  of  this  class  —  aureolin 
and  orient  yellow. 

Aureolin  is  said  to  be  the  most  perfect  color  in  existence,  approaching 
more  nearly  than  any  other  the  purity  of  the  prismatic  spectrum.  It  is 
available  in  all  branches  of  art,  except  in  enamel.  Great  heat  destroys  it, 
notwithstanding  which  it  will  bear  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun  for  a  whole 
season.    It  mixes  safely  with  all  other  colors. 

Orient  yellow,  its  compeer,  merits  equal  praise ;  lustrous,  luminous, 
permanent,  it  defies  all  enemies.    They  are  both  new  pigments. 

The  cadmiums  are  also  comparatively  new,  the  metal  itself  being  unknown 
before  1818.  They  are  sulphides  of  cadmium,  unaffected  by  impure  air;  iron 
injures  them,  hence  a  steel  palette-knife  should  not  be  used  with  them. 
Deep  cadmium,  mixed  with  white,  gives  a  perfect  imitation  of  Naples  yellow. 


Origin  of  Pigments  and  tJieir  Chemical  Actiojt. 


35 


Opinions  differ  with  regard  to  mixing  it  with  white  lead,  some  authorities 
contending  that  it  would  be  destroyed  thereb3\ 

Lemon  cadmiums  are  decidedly  fugitive,  though  of  the  same  nature  as  deep 
orange  cadmiums,  which  are  permanent. 

Chrome  yellows  are  chromates  of  lead,  having  great  body,  brilliance,  and 
opacity.  They  lack  tenderness,  and  will  in  time  grow  dark ;  they  are  less 
affected  by  foul  gas  in  oil  than  in  water  color ;  they  destroy  Prussian  and 
Antwerp  blues. 

Citron  yellow  is  chromate  of  zinc  ;  affected  by  light  and  air  ;  liable  to  turn 
green  if  brought  in  contact  with  organic  substances. 

Gall  stone,  an  animal  product,  is  affected  by  strong  light.  Gamboge, 
a  gummy,  resinous  product,  is  transparent,  and  more  durable  than  it  has  the 
credit  of  being.  When  mixed  with  other  colors  it  helps  preserve  them,  on 
account  of  its  resinous  nature.  It  is  injured  by  white  lead  and  other  metallic 
pigments,  and  reddens  by  contact  with  alkaline  substances. 

Indian  yellow  is  an  animal  product.  Possessing  an  alkaline  nature  it 
injures  cochineal  lakes  and  carmine.  It  may  be  employed  in  fresco,  as  foul 
air  and  lime  do  not  harm  it.  Like  some  other  pigments,  it  resists  the  sun's 
rays,  but  fades  somewhat  in  ordinary  light. 

Lemon  yellow  is  chromate  of  baryta,  the  only  chromate  which  is  not  liable 
to  change  by  foul  air,  dampness,  mixture  with  white  lead  and  other  pigments, 
the  action  of  hght,  and  contact  with  a  steel  palette-knife.  It  is  semi- 
opaque. 

Mars  yellow  resembles  the  iron  ochres  and  sienna  earths,  but  is  more 
transparent,  and  somewhat  purer  and  richer. 

Most  of  the  modern  Naples  yellow?  having  a  zinc  instead  of  a  lead  basis, 
is  stable  and  trustworthy.  It  was  formerly  a  compound  of  lead  and  antimony, 
subject  to  same  dangers  and  management  as  white  leads. 

The  ochres  are  native  earths,  in  which  iron  is  the  coloring  element.  They 
are  compounds  of  silica,  alumina,  and  iron. 

The  umbers,  siennas,  and  ochres  are  all  oxides  of  iron,  and  permanent, 
whether  native  or  calcined. 

The  ochres  were  chiefly  used  by  the  old  masters  for  flesh-tints,  and  their 
permanency  is  proved  by  the  state  of  old  pictures.  They  injure  carmine  and 
cochineal  lakes  to  some  extent. 

Orpiment  is  sulphuret  of  arsenic.  It  is  destroyed  by  lead  colors,  and  de- 
prives other  colors  of  their  oxygen.    It  is  now  obsolete. 

Strontian  yellow  should  be  chromate  of  strontia,  but  it  is  not.  It  contains 
no  strontia  whatever,  and  is  an  exceptional  instance  of  a  compound  superior 
to  an  original  pigment. 

Vegetable  yellows  are  not  to  be  depended  on,  especially  if  submitted  to 
the  action  of  solar  rays.  The  same  may  be  said  of  vegetable  pigments  of  all 
colors. 

Red. — With  the  second  primary,  red, —  red,  the  gorgeous,  the  magnificent, — 
Nature  has  less  richly  endowed  us.  Yet  our  lack  is  not  in  quantity,  as  we  have 
an  abundance,  but  rather  in  the  union  of  excellences  of  which  the  first  primary 


♦ 


36 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


gave  us  examples.  Especially  are  we  in  need  of  a  transparent,  permanent 
scarlet.  The  only  pure  scarlet  available  is  an  iodide  of  mercury,  as  much 
inferior  to  vermilion  in  permanence  as  it  is  superior  in  brilliance.  It  must 
not  be  mixed  with  metallic  pigments,  and  must  be  thickly  glazed  with  gum  in 
water  color. 

Vermilion  is  a  sulphuret  of  mercury,  —  mercury  and  sulphur  sublimed 
together.  In  China  it  is  found  so  pure  as  only  to  need  grinding.  It  is  per- 
manent, if  of  the  best  quality,  and  eligible  in  water,  oil,  or  fresco.  Its 
opacity  is  its  greatest  objection.  It  is  too  suggestive  of  the  word  pigment," — 
paint.  When  mixed  with  other  colors,  the  heavier  they  are  the  better,  as  its 
specific  gravity  is  great.  Mixed  with  white,  it  furnishes  fine  flesh  tints.  It 
is  not  good  in  enamel,  as  it  is  dissipated  at  red  heat.  It  contains  about  loo 
parts  quicksilver  to  i6  parts  of  sulphur. 

Beside  vermilion,  there  is  one  other  red,  not  bearing  on  a  crimson  cast 
which  is  permanent,  and  eligible  in  every  department  of  art,  except,  also, 
enamelling.  This  is  cadmium,  a  simple,  original  pigment.  Glazed  with 
madder-carmine,  it  is  the  best  known  substitute  for  scarlet. 

Carmine,  one  of  the  pink  or  crimson  reds,  is  prepared  by  adding  alum  and 
carbonate  of  soda  to  a  solution  of  cochineal.  The  cochineal  insects,  from 
which  the  color  is  obtained,  are  fed  on  cactus  plants  and  tended  with  as  much 
care  as  silk-worms.  They  are  natives  of  Mexico,  and  some  frightfully 
mathematical  brain  has  estimated  that  it  would  take  70,000  of  them  to  weigh 
a  pound.  Carmine  is  unstable,  unless  used  very  thickly,  and  is  changed  to 
purple  by  contact  with  alkaline  substances.  Crimson  lake,  scarlet  lake,  Flor- 
entine and  purple  lakes  are  all  cochineal  colors,  and  fugitive. 

The  madders  are  derived  from  a  plant  largely  grown  in  France  and  Hol- 
land, and  are  a  most  valuable  acquisition  to  the  palette,  as  before  their  dis- 
covery there  was  no  permanent  transparent  red  and  rose  pigment.  Unlike 
cochineal,  madder  furnishes  several  coloring  matters,  —  yellow,  orange, 
red,  purple,  and  brown. 

Mars  red  is  an  artificial  iron  ochre,  similar  to  the  native  earth.  All  the 
Mars  colors  are  good  and  permanent. 

Red  ochre,  oxide  of  iron,  is  either  yellow  ochre  burnt  or  the  same 
changed  in  hue  by  time,  which  often  has  the  effect  of  fire.  Like  all  ochres,  it 
is  permanent  in  water,  oil,  crayon,  or  fresco,  and,  like  most  of  them,  available 
in  enamelling. 

Indian  red  is  an  earth  brought  from  Bengal,  and  contains  a  large  amount 
of  peroxide  of  iron.  It  is  opaque,  and  does  not  keep  place  well,  but  neither 
time,  fire,  impure  air,  light,  nor  mixture  with  other  pigments  will  afTect  it. 

Light  red  is  an  ochre,  but  Venetian  red  cannot  properly  be  classed  among 
them,  as  it  has  no  earthy  base.  It  is  artificially  prepared  by  calcining  sul- 
phate of  iron.  It  is  permanent,  but  should  be  cautiously  used  with  colors 
which  afTect  that  metal. 

Red  lead,  an  ancient  pigment,  is  an  oxide  of  uncertain  composition, 
extremely  fugacious  when  employed  with  white  lead. 

Among  the  permanent  reds  rank  cadmium,  madder,  and  Mars  reds,  and 

* 


Origin  of  Pigments  and  tJieir  Chemical  Action.  37 


the  ochres  and  vermiHons  ;  among  the  semi-stable,  the  cochineal  lakes, 
Indian  lake,  and  red  chrome.  To  the  fugitive,  belong  scarlet,  dragon's  blood, 
red  lead,  and  coal-tar  colors. 

Blue.  —  Among  the  blues  we  have,  as  yet,  only  two  classes  that  can  prop- 
erly be  called  permanent,  —  the  ultramarines,  native  and  artificial,  and  the 
cobalts. 

Pure  ultramarine  is  derived  from  the  precious  stones,  lapis-lazuli,  found 
in  Persia  and  in  Siberia  ;  it  is  doubtless  the  celebrated  Armenian  blue.  It 
is  very  expensive  ;  the  purest  quality  of  it  has  been  sold  as  high  as  ^8 
an  ounce.  On  account  of  its  costliness,  a  prize  of  6000  francs  was 
offered  in  Paris  for  an  artificial  substitute  that  should  possess  its  good  quali- 
ties. This  was  won  in  1828  by  a  M.  Guimet,  a  noted  chemist.  Its  absolutely 
necessary  constituents  were  found  to  be  silica,  alumina,  sulphur,  and  soda,  the 
blue  color  being  dependent  on  the  soda.  It  has  a  transparent,  azure  color  ; 
it  is  permanent,  unaffected  by  alkaline  substances,  hence  eligible  for  mural 
decoration,  and  is  subject  to  the  same  effects  from  acid  as  the  native  ultra- 
marine. It  becomes  darkened  by  heat,  which  renders  it  unfit  for  painting  on 
porcelain  or  glass.  It  must  not  be  mixed  with  constant  white,  which  is  an 
acid  sulphate  of  baryta. 

Cerulean  is  comparatively  a  new  pigment ;  it  is  cobalt  with  a  tin  base, 
and  contains  sometimes  gypsum,  silica,  and  magnesia ;  it  has  a  chalky 
quality  which  destroys  its  transparency.  Like  all  cobalt  blues  it  assumes  a 
greenish-gray  tint  in  time,  and  like  them  it  resists  the  action  of  light  and  im- 
pure air,  although,  owing  to  its  tin  base,  it  is  more  open  to  the  influence  of 
the  latter.    It  can  safely  be  employed  in  fresco  and  enamel. 

Cobalt  is  obtained  by  calcining  a  mixture  of  alumina  and  crystals  of  cobalt. 
The  perfection  of  the  color  depends  on  its  being  free  from  iron  and  nickel. 
It  does  not  suffer  from  mixture  generally,  and  can  be  used  in  enamel  and 
fresco.  Its  specific  gravity  is  great,  which  causes  it  to  sink  quickly  when 
mixed  for  use  with  other  colors.  A  prismatic  effect  can  be  realized  by  going 
over  it  when  dry  with  a  faint  wash  of  vermilion.  It  is  not  destroyed  by 
acid. 

Smalt  is  a  vitreous  compound  of  cobalt  and  silica,  stable  in  glass  or 
porcelain  painting,  but  not  for  pictorial  purposes,  either  in  oil  or  water.  All 
vitreous  colors  are  unsuited  for  artists'  purposes. 

Indigo  came  into  use  in  Europe  about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
although  it  was  well  known  to  the  ancients.  Permanent  as  a  dye,  it  is  even 
inferior  to  Prussian  blue  as  a  pigment ;  but  it  is  in  favor  with  many  artists, 
notwithstanding,  since  it  gives  good  effects. 

Intense  blue  is  only  refined  indigo. 

Prussian  blue  is  a  compound  of  iron  and  potassium,  or  a  prussiate  of 
iron  with  a  gaseous  substance  called  cyanogen.  It  fades  in  a  strong  light, 
but  regains  its  color  in  the  dark  ;  it  dries  well  in  oil,  and  can  be  used  in 
great  body  with  considerable  permanence. 

Antwerp  blue  is  a  species  of  lake  with  an  aluminous  base.  Similar  to 
Prussian  blue. 


38 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


Blue  verditer  is  blue  oxide  of  copper. 

Green.  —  Copper  furnishes  many  of  the  most  commonly  used  greens.  But 
all  copper  greens  are  somewhat  insecure  in  oil  vehicles. 

Scheele's  green  is  an  arsenite  of  copper,  a  late  discovery,  intensely  brilliant 
and  rankly  poisonous. 

Emerald  green  is  a  compound  of  arsenite  and  acetate  of  copper.  It  is 
very  durable,  not  affected  by  light,  dampness,  or  impure  air  ;  it  is  powerfully 
reflective,  and  is  to  greens  what  scarlet  is  to  reds.  It  may  be  mixed  with 
aureolin  for  Spring  tints. 

Malachite  green  is  carbonate  of  copper.  It  is  prepared  from  malachite,  a 
beautiful  copper  ore  used  by  jewellers. 

Viridian  green,  a  new  preparation,  and  the  most  beautiful  of  all  greens,  is 
an  oxide  of  chromium.  Pure  and  clear  as  an  emerald,  it  is  also  permanent, 
and  mixes  safely  with  other  pigments,  neither  injuring  nor  injured  by  them. 
Unaffected  by  impure  air  or  dampness,  it  is  eligible  for  fresco  but  not  for 
enamelling.    With  aureolin,  it  is  peculiarly  adapted  for  marine  painting. 

Oxide  of  chromium  is  chromate  of  mercury  strongly  ignited.  It  is  a  per- 
manent color  in  all  respects  ;  it  is  the  coloring  matter  of  emeralds  ;  it  is 
opaque  and  of  full  body. 

Terre  verte  is  an  oxide  of  copper. 

Chrome  greens  are  compounds  of  chromate  of  lead  and  Prussian  blue,  but 
they  are  unfit  for  artistic  purposes,  as  their  constituent  elements  react  upon 
each  other. 

Hooker's  green  is  simply  a  compound  of  Prussian  blue  and  gamboge. 

Purple.  —  The  richest  purples  are  mixtures  of  Prussian  blue  and  crimson, 
but  are,  of  course,  unstable,  since  their  component  parts  are  so. 

Purple  madder  is  the  only  durable  organic  purple,  and  is  admirable  for 
fresco. 

Violet  carmine  should  be  used  only  in  body,  as  it  loses  its  beauty  and 
brightness. 

Gold  purple  is  excellent,  but  costly,  and  purple  madder  supplies  its  place. 

Because  of  its  great  beauty  and  high  cost,  purple  came  to  be  the  symbol 
of  imperial  power.  The  celebrated  Tyrian  purple  was  obtained  from  a 
species  of  murex,  and  other  shells.  The  Romans  had  extensive  murex  fish- 
eries and  dyeing  establishments,  but  for  several  centuries  after  the  fall  of  the 
Roman  Empire  purple  was  an  unknown  color  in  Europe. 

Mars  violet  is  strictly  permanent,  and  is  of  an  ochreous  nature.  It  is  not 
very  brilliant. 

Orange.  —  Orange  pigments  comprise  some  of  the  best  on  the  palette, 
though  they  were  unknown  in  ancient  times. 

Cadmium  orange  was  first  introduced  to  the  art-world  in  1862.  It  is  a 
simple  original  color,  having  no  base  but  cadmium.  Beautifully  transparent, 
it  gives  gorgeous  effects,  and  is  especially  adapted  for  a  glaze  over  autumn 
leaves  and  for  bits  of  bright  drapery  ;  it  can  also  be  used  for  mural  decoration. 

Orange  chrome  is  produced  by  the  action  of  an  alkali  on  chrome  yellow. 
Like  all  chromates  of  lead,  it  has  a  tendency  to  injure  organic  substances. 


Origin  of  Pigments  and  their  Chemical  Action.  39 


Of  the  tertiary  colors,  there  is  no  original  olive  pigment,  good  or  bad,  and 
only  one  original  russet,  —  Ruben's  madder. 

Olive  oxide  of  chromium  is  of  strict  durability,  either  in  water  or  oil.  It 
is  superior  to  any  compound  olive  pigment,  but  is  too  expensive  to  be  used 
freely.    Olive  terre  verte  is  good,  and  is  semi-transparent. 

In  brown  pigments,  yellow  is  the  chief  constituent,  and  with  the  exception 
of  Cologne  and  Cassel  earths  they  are  comparatively  permanent.  Brown 
pink,  however,  a  citrine  color  of  vegetable  origin,  is  not  very  stable.  Mars 
brown  is  iron  and  manganese,  and  quite  permanent.  Vandyke  brown  is  a 
bituminous  ochre,  and  like  all  bituminous  pigments  dries  tardily. 

Bitumen  and  asphaltum  are  both  of  a  resinous  nature,  the  one  mixed  with 
oil  and  the  other  with  turpentine.  The  pitch  is  found  floating  on  the  Dead 
Sea  ;  its  great  transparency  renders  its  use  very  tempting  to  the  artist,  not- 
withstanding it  has  a  tendency  to  crack  on  change  of  temperature.  Mummy 
oil  used  with  it,  however,  will  prevent  its*  cracking.  The  large  seams  in  some 
of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds'  pictures  are  said  to  be  the  result  of  painting  freely 
with  bitumen. 

Mummy  brown  comes  from  the  catacombs  of  Egypt.  It  is  the  liquid 
bitumen  which  was  used  in  embalming,  chemically  changed  by  time  and  mix- 
ture with  animal  remains.  Objections  to  this  pigment  are  sometimes  raised 
on  rather  novel  grounds,  though  whether  they  are  the  result  of  sentimental 
reverence  or  disgust  is  open  to  conjecture.  Field  instances  a  certain  artist 
who  had  a  decided  prejudice  against  smearing  his  canvas  with  a  possible 
extract  of  Potiphar's  wife,  notwithstanding  he  might  get  excellent  effects 
thereby. 

Sepia  is  the  concrete  gall  of  the  cuttle-fish.    It  is  capable  of  being  so 
widely  spread  that  an  ounce  of  it  will  color  several  thousand  ounces  of  water. 
It  is  very  permanent  and  combines  admirably  with  other  pigments.   A  fossil  v 
cuttle-fish  was  recently  found,  the  ink  in  the  gall-sac  of  which  was  in  a  perfect 
state  of  preservation. 

Verona  brown,  a  citrine  color  of  great  service,  is  a  ferruginous  earth.  The 
citrine-bistre  is  a  solution  from  the  soot  of  burnt  wood.  As  it  attracts  mois^ 
ture  from  the  atmosphere,  it  is  not  considered  good  except  for  architectura 
drawing,  and  is  not  used  at  all  in  oil. 

Raw  umber  is  a  natural  ochre,  containing  oxide  of  iron,  oxide  of  man- 
ganese, silica,  and  alumina.  It  dries  well,  is  stable,  and  does  not  injure  other 
pigments. 

Cappagh  brown  is  bog-earth  and  manganese.  With  an  excess  of  peat,  it 
is  a  superior  Vandyke,  and  with  an  excess  of  mineral  it  forms  a  superior 
umber. 

Cadmium  brown  is  white  carbonate  of  cadmium  prepared  by  ignition.  Its 
use  is  not  recommended,  as  it  will  change  back  to  white  by  contact  with  air. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  pigments  which  are  not  at  all,  or  little,  liable  to 
injury  by  the  action  of  light,  oxygen,  and  pure  air  ;  nor  by  shade,  sulphuretted 
hydrogen,  dampness,  and  impure  air  ;  nor  by  the  action  of  the  metallic  sub- 
stances, lead  and  iron  :  — 


40 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


Zinc  white,  constant  white,  tin  white,  the  yellow  ochres,  red  ochre,  light 
red,  Venetian  red,  Indian  red,  ultramarine,  blue  ochre,  orange  ochre,  jaune 
de  Mars,  burnt  sienna,  burnt  Roman  ochre,  terre  verte,  cobalt  green,  gold 
purple,  madder  purple,  purple  ochre,  bro\Yn  madder,  Vandyke  brown,  bistre, 
raw  and  burnt  umber,  Cassel  earth,  Cologne  earth,  sienna  earths,  vermilion? 
rubiates  or  madder  lakes,  madder  carrnines,  asphaltum,  mummy  brown,  ultra- 
marine ashes  or  mineral  gray,  sepia,  naanganese  brown,  Cappagh  brown, 
ivory  black,  lamp  black,  Indian  ink,  graphite,  mineral  black,  Frankfort  black. 

Pigments  injured  by  white  lead  or  preparations  of  that  metal :  — 

Gamboge,  Indian  yellow,  yellow  lake,  Italian  pink,  iodine  scarlet,  red  lead, 
dragon's  blood,  lac,  carmines  and  cochineal  lakes,  indigo,  orange  orpiment, 
sap  green,  brown  pink. 

Pigments  affected  by  iron,  or  by  other  pigments  into  which  ferruginous 
substances  enter  as  components  :  — 

Blanc  d'  Argent,  Naples  yellow,  patent  yellow,  iodine  scarlet,  carmine,  scar- 
let lake,  blue  verditer,  intense  blue,  mountain  blue,  verdigris,  green  verditer, 
prussiate  of  copper,  ca^c  t     ..t  a  _ 


Harmony  and  Contrast  of  Color. 


41 


IV. 

HARMONY  AND  CONTRAST  OF  COLOR. 

Color  seems  to  be  a  necessity  of  our  intellectual  nature  ;  for  if  all  objects 
were  of  a  bright  white  light  when  the  sun  shone,  and  this  light  gradually 
faded  away  into  black  dulness"  as  the  sun  disappeared,  giving  us  no  variety 
of  color  but  dull  neutral  grays,  what  unsatisfied,  despairing  creatures  we 
should  be  !  It  is  this  craving  for  color  and  beautiful  effects  which  leads  us  to 
decorate  our  homes,  our  persons,  and  draws  us  to  works  of  art.  We  go  to 
Nature  to  study  there  what  is  spread  before  the  eye  of  all  intelligent  beings, 
and  learn  what  is  agreeable  in  the  works  that  she  exhibits  to  us  daily.  She 
spreads  ever-varying  beauty  before  us  ;  and  we  are  not  forced  to  journey  over 
many  lands  for  variety  of  scene,  for  if  we  view  the  same  landscape  many 
times,  it  is  never  painted  twice  alike,  and  its  colors  are  always  in  harmony. 
Then  let  us  look  more  closely,  and  endeavor  to  see  what  it  is  in  Nature's 
paintings  that  gives  us  such  pleasure,  rest,  and  peace,  as  no  pictures  by  any 
other  artist  ever  give.  All  this  beauty  of  color  is  due  to  the  power  of 
refraction  which  light  has  in  passing  through  mediums  of  different  density, 
and  to  the  power  different  bodies  possess  of  reflecting  and  absorbing  light. 
Some  bodies  absorb  all  the  rays  and  we  call  them  black  ;  others  reflect  all  the 
rays,  and  we  call  them  white  ;  others  reflect  green  rays,  blue  rays,  etc.  ;  we 
name  them  accordingly. 

Light  was  considered  a  primary  element,  until  Newton  discovered  its 
compound  nature.  A  ray  of  solar  light  is  composed  of  an  indeterminate 
number  of  variously  colored  rays,  which  are  distributed  into  groups,  termed 
red  rays,  orange  rays,  yellow,  green,  blue,  indigo,  and  violet  rays.  But  all  the 
rays  comprised  in  one  group  are  not  identical  in  color.  Some  of  these  colors 
are  produced  by  the  mingling  of  other  colors,  and  for  simplicity,  and  conven- 
ience of  study,  we  say  that  white  is  composed  of  yellow,  red,  and  blue  rays. 
These  rays  cannot  be  further  divided,  and  as  being  the  primary  elements  of 
light  and  unattainable  by  any  mixture,  they  are  called  Primary  Colors. 

There  are  no  pigments  to  represent  the  primary  colors,  for  there  is  no  one 
pigment  that  is  free  from  a  mixture  of  some  other  color.  Thus  it  is  difficult 
to  get  a  red  that  is  free  from  yellow  or  blue,  or  a  blue  that  is  without  any 
mixture  of  yellow  or  red.  The  nearest  approach  to  primary  colors  in  paints 
or  pigments  is,  for  yellow,  lemon-yellow ;  for  red,  French  carmine  ;  for  blue, 
6 


42 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


ultramarine.  The  primary  colors,  mixed  in  varied  proportions,  produce  hues 
of  color.  By  diluting  these  hues  with  white,  all  tints  of  color  are  made  ;  by 
toning  the  hues  with  black,  all  shades  of  color  are  produced.  Colors  are 
inherent  or  transient.  Inherent  colors  are  material  colored  substances  ; 
transient  colors  are  those  formed  by  the  decomposition  of  light,  such  as  the 
hues  of  the  rainbow,  the  prism.  The  three  primaries,  yellow,  red,  and  blue,  in 
the  state  of  transient  colors,  that  is  of  the  prism,  rainbow,  etc.,  when  recom- 
posed  or  mixed  by  the  contrary  process  to  that  by  which  they  have  been 
separated,  produce  white  light :  could  we  get  pure  color  in  pigments,  this 
experiment  would  hold  good  with  them  ;  but  if  we  mix  material  colors 
together,  yellow,  red,  and  blue,  the  colors  are  neutralized  and  destroyed.  Any 
two  of  them,  mixed  in  certain  proportions,  produce  a  perfect  secondary,  which 
harmonizes  with  the  remaining  primary. 

To  satisfy  the  eye  and  produce  harmony  of  color,  the  presence  of 
all  three  primaries  is  necessary,  either  in  their  pure  state  or  in  com- 
bination. When  any  one  of  these  colors  is  present,  the  other  two 
are  called  the  complement  of  that  color,  or  that  which  it  requires 
to  complete  harmony.  This  is  a  physical  need  of  the  organs  of  sight,  and 
we  have  only  to  be  observing  to  prove  it  is  so.  A  simple  experiment,  which 
almost  every  child  has  tried,  is,  to  look  for  a  time  at  the  bright,  yellow  sun 
when  low  in  the  horizon.  As  we  remove  the  eye  to  other  objects,  or  shut  it, 
we  still  see  the  image  of  the  sun,  but  of  a  purple  color,  the  complement  of 
the  yellow.  This  fleeting  image  is  called  the  Ocular  Spectrum.  If  we  look 
upon  any  brightly-colored  object,  we  may  observe  the  same  phenomena. 
The  nerves  of  the  eye  become  fatigued  with  looking  intensely  at  one  bril- 
liantly colored  object,  and  are  unable  to  receive  the  rays  of  that  color;  the 
other  two  rays,  therefore,  become  mingled  and  produce  the  secondary,  com- 
plementary color. 

According  to  Field,  colors  harmonize  in  the  proportion  (that  is,  to  the 
extent  of  surface  covered)  of  three  of  yellow,  five  of  red,  and  eight  of 
blue.  To  produce  perfect  secondaries,  the  same  proportions  must  be  kept. 
Thus  five  of  red  and  eight  of  blue  make  purple,  which  harmonizes  with  three 
of  yellow,  its  complementary  color.  Eight  of  blue  and  three  of  yellow  pro- 
duce green,  harmonizing  with  red  in  the  proportion  of  five  of  red  to  eleven- 
of  green.  Five  of  red  and  three  of  yellow  make  orange,  which  harmonizes 
with  blue  in  the  proportion  of  eight  of  each.  These  tnree  colors,  orange, 
purple,  and  green,  are  called  secondary  colors.  Orange  is  complementary  to 
blue,  and  blue  to  orange  ;  purple  is  the  complement  of  yellow,  and  vice  versa. 
The  same  is  true  of  red  and  green,  each  being  the  complement  of  the  other. 

The  mixture  of  the  secondary  colors  produces  the  tertiaries.  Thus  eight  of 
orange  and  eleven  of  green  make  citrine,  which  harmonizes  with  purple  in 
proportion  of  nineteen  of  citrine  to  thirteen  of  purple.  Thirteen  of  purple 
and  eleven  of  green  make  olive,  which  harmonizes  with  orange  in  proportion 
of  twenty-four  olive  to  eight  of  orange.  Eight  of  orange  and  thirteen  of 
purple  produce  the  tertiary  russet,  which  harmonizes  with  the  secondary 
green  in  the  proportion  of  twenty-one  of  russet  to  eleven  of  green.  Each 


Harmony  and  Contrast  of  Color. 


43 


tertiary  is  composed  of  the  three  primaries,  with  one  predominant.  Thus 
yellow  predominates  in  citrine,  made  from  orange  and  green,  each  containing 
yellow  and  one  other  color  ;  red  is  in  excess  in  russet,  the  warmest  of  the 
tertiaries  ;  and  blue  predominates  in  olive,  which  makes  this  color  the  dark- 
est and  coldest  of  the  three  tertiaries. 

Colors  are  described  as  warm  and  cold  colors  :  red,  orange,  and  russet  are 
warm,  while  blue,  green,  and  olive  are  cold  colors.  Some  colors  are  opposed 
to,  or  in  contrast  with  other  colors,  as  regards  light  and  dark,  advancing  and 
retiring. 

Blue  is  the  most  retiring  of  all  colors.  We  see  blues  and  blue  grays  in  the 
distance  in  landscapes,  and  moving  objects,  as  they  recede  to  the  background^ 
lose  their  bright  colors,  and  gradually  assume  gray  tints  till  they  vanish  in 
the  distance.  It  is  from  this  retiring  nature  that  blue  and  gray  tints  of  wall- 
paper on  a  room  give  the  room  the  appearance  of  being  larger  than  it  is  ; 
while  bright  yellow  or  orange  paper  makes  the  walls  seem  closer  to  us,  as 
these  colors  are  advancing. 

Yellow  and  purple  contrast  as  to  light  and  dark  ;  red  and  green  do  not,  but 
they  contrast  as  to  power  of  color.  Red  is  the  warmest  and  most  exciting 
color,  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  bright  red  garments  are  so  disagreeable  to 
the  eye  on  a  hot  summer  day,  and  the  green  trees  and  fields  so  soothing  and 
refreshing. 

Successive  contrast  comes  from  removing  the  eye  from  an  object  upon 
which  it  has  long  dwelt,  and  seeing  the  image  of  the  object  dressed  in  its 
complementary  colors.  When  the  eye  is  then  fixed  upon  another  colored 
object,  the  color  of  the  latter  is  modified  with  the  color  of  this  image  of  the 
eye.  This  is  called  mixed  contrast.  Simultaneous  contrast  comprises 
all  those  phenomena  which  take  place  when  colors  are  seen  simultaneously 
in  juxtaposition.  These  changes  arise  from  a  property  common  to  all 
colored  bodies  of  reflecting,  along  with  their  own  hue,  a  certain  amount  of 
the  complementary  rays,  and  of  white  light. 

Complementary  colors  in  juxtaposition  mutually  enrich  each  other.  For 
example,  when  yellow  and  purple  are  arranged  side  by  side,  the  yellow  is 
apparently  deepened  in  tint  and  enriched  by  the  extra  yellow  rays  given  out 
by  the  proximate  purple ;  at  the  same  time  the  purple  is  enlivened  and  light- 
ened by  its  contrast  with  the  lighter  primary,  and  enriched  in  color  by  the 
extra  purple  rays  given  out  by  its  yellow  complementary.  In  order  to  attain 
full  harmony,  it  is  necessary  that  the  juxtaposed  colors  should  be  of  equal 
intensity  of  hue.  Thus  the  law  of  harmony  will  be  found  in  complementary 
contrasts  of  color  with  analogy  of  hue.  When  analogy  of  hue  is  wanting,  that 
is,  when  a  full  hue  of  color  is  juxtaposed  with  a  tint  or  shade  of  its  comple- 
mentary, their  mutual  enrichment  of  each  other  decreases  in  the  ratio  of  their 
decrease  of  analogy  of  hue. 

By  juxtaposition  inharmonious  combinations  are  rendered  still  more  inhar- 
monious. For  example,  if  purple  and  blue  are  placed  side  by  side  both 
colors  are  injured.  A  line  of  white  between  the  colors  diminishes  the 
discord. 


44 


The  Aittefix  Papers. 


In  contrasting  color  with  a  ground  of  white  the  color  is  enriched,  the 
white  ground  overpowering  the  extra  white  rays  given  out  by  the  color.  In 
contrasting  color  with  a  black  ground  the  color  appears  diluted  or  weakened, 
the  extra  white  rays  given  out  by  the  color  being  increased  by  those  reflected 
from  the  black  surfaces.  Black  grounds  should  not  be  opposed  to  colors 
which  have  a  luminous  complementary,  since  these  must  tend  to  diminish  the 
brilliancy  of  the  ground,  whilst  the  reverse  will  arise  from  the  opposition  of 
colors  which  have  a  dark  complementary.  For  example,  blue  on  a  black 
ground  tends  to  give  it  a  brown  shade,  on  account  of  the  orange  complementary 
rays  which  are  invariably  produced  by  the  blue,  whilst  orange  on  a  black 
ground  renders  the  ground  more  intense  from  the  blue  extra  rays  reflected  by 
the  orange. 

Cold,  negative  grounds  require  the  opposition  of  warm  colors.  Red,  which 
in  color  is  intermediate  between  light  and  darkness,  being  the  contrast  of 
gray,  which  holds  the  same  place  in  colorless  media ;  it  also,  being  the  most 
positive  of  colors,  harmonizes  agreeably  with  both  the  neutrals,  —  black  and 
white. 

Gray  increases  the  brilliancy  of  all  the  primary  colors  when  in  juxtaposition 
with  them.  It  may  also  act  as  a  color,  and  form  with  the  darker  hues  and  shades, 
harmonies  of  analogy,  while  with  the  lighter  hues  and  tints  it  may  form  har- 
monies of  contrast. 

Arrangements  of  the  primary  colors  with  black  are  always  agreeable. 
Black  may  also  be  arranged  with  the  darker  hues  to  form  harmonies  of 
analogy,  and  with  the  luminous  hues  and  tints  to  produce  harmonies  of 
contrast. 

When  ornamental  forms  of  any  color  are  placed  on  grounds  of  the 
complementary  color  they  should  be  surrounded  by  a  margin  of  a  hghter  or 
darker  tint.  This  is  required  to  clearly  define  them  and  to  overcome  the 
tendency  the  complementary  colors  have  to  become  confused,  from  the  extra 
rays  they  each  give  out,  the  effect  of  which  is  more  observable  where  the 
colors  come  in  contact.  This  treatment  is  more  necessary  where  the  colors 
do  not  contrast  as  to  light  and  dark,  as  green  and  red,  for  they  are  more  apt 
to  mingle  than  colors  of  a  decided  contrast,  as  purple  and  yellow.  When 
the  ground  is  dark  and  the  ornament  of  a  light  complementary  hue,  the  orna- 
ment should  be  edged  with  a  lighter  tint.  When  the  ornamental  forms  are 
dark,  on  a  luminous  ground  of  complementary  color,  the  forms  should  be 
edged  with  a  darker  line.  This  is  also  true  of  self-tints,  dark  forms  on  a 
light  ground  requiring  to  be  bordered  with  a  still  darker  line. 

The  Oriental  ornamentalists  practised  these  laws  of  simultaneous  con- 
trasts, as  they  separated  colored  ornamental  forms  from  colored  grounds  by 
borders  of  white,  black,  and  gold,  while  on  white  or  black  grounds  they  used 
no  such  borders. 

The  primaries  not  only  harmonize  with  the  secondaries,  and  these  with 
the  tertiaries,  in  their  state  of  full  hues,  as  already  described,  but  their  tints 
also  harmonize,  and  produce  combinations  of  great  beauty  and  refinement.  For 
instance,  lilac,  which  is  a  tint  of  purple,  is  in  harmony  with  primrose,  a  tint 


Harmony  and  Contrast  of  Color, 


45 


of  yellow ;  and  straw-color,  a  tint  of  orange,  slightly  neutralized,  contrasts 
with  a  negative  blue  tint.  The  luminous  primaries  and  secondaries  may  be 
used  in  their  full  hues  with  tints  of  their  dark  complementaries,  thus  :  orange 
with  pale  blue,  yellow  with  lilac,  etc.;  but  the  surface  of  the  contrasting  tint 
must  be  increased  in  proportion  to  its  dilution  with  white.  When  it  is  desired 
to  have  a  decoration  of  a  dominant  color  in  large  masses  the  primaries  or 
secondaries  may  be  neutrahzed  into  shades,  and  the  harmonies  may  be  obtained 
by  the  introduction  of  small  portions  of  the  pure  complementary.  Thus,  blue, 
lowered  in  tone  by  black,  may  be  supported  by  small  portions  of  orange, 
bounded  by  a  lighter  tint  or  white.  The  good  colorist  must  study  not  only 
harmony  of  combination,  but  suitableness  and  local  fitness,  and  must  vary 
the  scale  of  color  in  depth  and  tone  for  different  fabrics  and  different 
purposes. 


46 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


.  V. 

HARMONY  AND   CONTRAST   OF  COLOR. 

(^Continued.') 

We  have  learned  from  the  preceding  article  what  the  terms  "  harmony  "  and 
"  contrast  "  imply,  also  which  colors  are  primary,  secondary,  tertiary,  etc.,  and 
how  they  harmonize  and  contrast.  We  will  now  consider  how  colors  may  be 
modified,  or  may  appear  very  different  from  what  they  really  are.  The  colors 
of  objects  are  supposed  to  be  due  to  a  power  they  possess  of  absorbing 
certain  portions  of  the  colored  rays  that  make  up  a  ray  of  white  light,  and  of 
reflecting  other  portions,  the  reflected  portion  being  complementary  to  the 
portion  absorbed.  Thus,  a  red  colored  substance  is  considered  to  absorb 
blue  and  yellow,  and  reflect  red.  A  green  colored  body  absorbs  red,  and 
reflects  blue  and  yellow.  A  white  substance,  then,  in  conformity  with  this 
view,  reflects  all  the  rays  that  constitute  white  light,  while  a  black  substance 
absorbs  them.  Bodies  reflect  a  considerable  portion  of  white  light  as  well 
as  of  colored  light,  according  as  the  surfaces  are  smooth,  glossy,  polished, 
rough,  channelled,  etc.  ;  for  example,  pieces  of  silk,  cotton,  linen,  woollen, 
and  velvet,  although  dyed  of  exactly  the  same  hue  and  tone  of  color,  appear 
when  viewed  in  the  same  light  and  at  the  same  distance  from  the  eye,  to  be 
of  quite  different  colors.  Both  the  tone  and  the  hue  of  a  colored  object  are 
modified  by  the  quality  of  the  light  by  which  it  is  illuminated,  whether 
it  be  direct  sunhght,  diffused  daylight,  or  diff"used  reflected  light.  The  form 
of  the  object  also  produces  varieties  of  light  and  shade,  and  thus  exhibits 
many  tones  of  the  same  color.  Color  is  furthermore  modified  in  its 
intensity  or  tone  by  contrast  of  tone  ;  for  example,  if  a  dark  color  be  placed 
beside  a  different  but  lighter  color,  the  dark  color  appears  deeper  and  the 
light  color  appears  lighter.  The  color  itself  may  appear  changed  according 
to  the  circumstances  under  which  it  is  viewed  ;  red,  for  example,  if  placed 
in  contact  with  blue,  appears  yellower  ;  if  with  yellow  it  appears  bluer  ;  if  in 
contact  with  green  it  appears  purer  and  brighter  ;  if  with  black  it  appears 
duller  ;  if  in  contact  with  white  it  appears  lighter  and  brighter  ;  and  if  with 
gray,  it  is  brightened.  Thus  the  same  red  may  appear  many  diff"erent  reds> 
according  to  the  circumstances  under  which  it  is  viewed.  If  we  look  at  two 
stripes,  of  the  same  color  but  of  different  tones,  or  at  two  stripes  of  different 
colors  of  the  same  tone,  placed  side  by  side,  if  the  stripes  be  not  too  wide, 


Harmony  and  Contrast  of  Color, 


47 


the  eye  perceives  certain  modifications,  affecting  both  the  quality  and  the 
intensity  of  the  colors,  and  they  will  appear  very  different  from  what  they  do 
when  viewed  separately. 

First.  The  tone  of  each  stripe  will  appear  changed,  the  light  tone  will 
appear  lighter  and  the  deep  tone  deeper,  commencing  at  the  line  of  contact, 
where  it  will  be  greatest,  and  gradually  diminishing  as  it  recedes  from  it. 
This  is  contrast  of  tone. 

Second.  The  color  of  the  different  stripes  will  appear  changed,  each 
appearing  as  different  as  possible  from  the  other.    This  is  contrast  of  colors. 

These  contiguous  colors  are  modified  in  hue,  as  if  the  complementary  of  the 
neighboring  color  was  added  to  each.  These  modifications,  taken  together, 
constitute  simultaneous  contrast  of  color,  which  may  be  expressed  in  the  fol- 
lowing terms  :  Whenever  the  eye  sees  at  the  same  time  two  contiguous 
colors,  they  will  appear  as  dissimilar  as  possible,  both  in  their  hue  and  in 
their  tone.  When  we  look  for  a  few  moments  at  a  given  color,  the  eye  spon- 
taneously calls  up  the  complementary  to  that  color,  which,  being  added  to  the 
color  first  looked  at,  makes  it  appear  duller  or  tarnished.  The  effect  is  the 
same  as  if  a  quantity  of  gray  were  added  to  the  color  looked  at,  because  the 
complementary  color  added  to  the  original  color  produces  black.  This  call- 
ing up  of  the  secondary  color  by  the  eye  constitutes  the  phenomenon  of 
successive  contrast  ;  and  the  addition  of  this  color  so  called  up,  to  the  origi- 
nal color,  constitutes  mixed  contrast. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  result  of  reviving  a  single  color  is  different  from 
that  produced  by  reviving  two  different  colors,  because  the  influence  of  the 
juxtaposed  color  is  absent,  —  there  is  no  complementary  color  to  add  to  the 
color  looked  at.  The  height  of  tone  exercises  much  influence  upon  the 
modification  ;  for  if,  after  looking  at  orange,  we  look  at  deep  blue,  this  latter 
will  appear  tinged  with  green  rather  than  violet,  —  a  result  the  reverse  of  that 
presented  by  light  blue.  Whenever  there  is  a  great  difference  between  two 
contiguous  colors,  the  difference  is  rendered  more  apparent  by  bringing  the 
same  color  successively  in  contrast  with  different  colors  belonging  to  the  same 
group. 

As  soon  as  we  know  the  complementary  of  one  color  in  contact  with 
another,  it  is  easy  to  determine  what  kind  of  modification  the  second  will 
receive  from  the  first,  as  this  modification  is  the  result  of  the  mixture  of 
the  complementary  with  the  contiguous  colors.  The  process  is  easy  when 
the  contiguous  colors  are  both  primaries,  and  it  is  not  more  difficult  when 
they  are  both  secondaries  ;  for  we  have  only  to  consider  that,  the  comple- 
mentary called  up  being  much  less  intense  than  the  color  to  which  it  is 
added,  we  obtain  the  result  by  subtracting  from  the  latter  secondary,  a  por- 
tion of  that  primary  which,  with  the  complementary,  forms  white  light ;  thus, 
orange,  added  as  a  complementary  to  green,  neutralizes  a  portion  of  the 
green,  and  consequently  makes  it  appear  yellower  ;  and  green,  added  to  a 
portion  of  red  in  orange,  neutrahzes  it,  and  makes  the  orange  appear 
yellower.  In  opposing  complementary  colors,  each  enhances  the  value  of 
the  other,  in  conformity  with  the  phenomena  of  successive  and  mixed  con- 
trasts. 


48 


The  Antefix  Papets, 


The  form  of  an  object,  and  its  gloss  or  polish,  have  a  considerable 
influence  upon  the  effect  of  associated  or  contiguous  colors.  Form  exerts  its 
influence  by  the  effects  of  the  light  and  shade  it  produces,  which  may  con- 
ceal the  ill  effects  of  two  associated  colors  which  are  not  glossy.  Thus 
flowers  often  exhibit  associations  of  color  which  on  plane  surfaces  would 
have  a  disagreeable  effect  if  these  were  not  glossy  ;  as,  for  instance,  the 
sweet-pea,  in  which  red  and  violet  are  associated.  Blue  and  violet,  which 
do  not  have  an  agreeable  effect  on  flat  and  unpolished  surfaces,  have  a 
very  good  effect  in  the  plumage  of  certain  birds  and  in  the  wings  of  butter- 
flies ;  for  the  injurious  effect  of  the  complementaries  of  these  two  colors 
upon  each  other  is  lost  through  the  influence  of  the  metallic  lustre  of  the 
feathers  and  scales. 

In  associating  complementary  colors  they  mutually  strengthen  and  purify 
each  other  without  going  out  of,  if  they  are  kept  within  their  respective  scales. 
Therefore  this  association  is  best  adapted  to  produce  harmony  of  contrast  in 
painting,  tapestry,  stained  glass  windows,  and  between  paper-hangings  and 
their  borders,  etc.  In  the  association  of  non-complementary  colors  the  result 
is  very  different ;  the  complementary  of  one  of  the  colors  differing  from  the 
other  color  to  which  it  is  added,  causes  a  modification  of  hue  in  the  two  colors, 
beside  a  modification  of  tone  if  they  are  not  taken  at  the  same  intensity.  Non- 
complementary  colors  produce  three  different  effects  when  placed  in  contact. 
First,  they  mutually  improve  each  other  ;  or  second,  one  is  improved  while  the 
other  is  injured  ;  and  third,  they  mutually  injure  each  other.  The  greater  the 
difference  between  the  colors,  the  more  their  association  will  be  favorable  to 
their  mutual  contrast,  and  the  nearer  they  are  alike  the  greater  will  be  the  risk 
that  their  association  will  prove  injurious  to  their  beauty.  As,  for  example,  take 
a  case  where  two  non-complementary  colors  improve  each  other,  as  yellow  and 
blue.  Being  so  dissimilar,  their  contrast  is  sufficiently  great  to  produce  a  fa- 
vorable association,  although  the  associated  colors  belong  to  different  scales  of 
yellow  and  blue.  Then,  as  an  instance  where  one  color  is  improved  and  the 
other  is  injured,  take  a  blue,  which  is  improved  by  yellow,  and  place  it  beside  a 
bluish  violet:  the  blue  will  lose  beauty  by  becoming  greenish,  while  the  orange 
it  adds  to  the  violet  will  neutralize  its  excess  of  blue,  and  improve  rather 
than  injure  the  bluish-violet  color.  And  as  an  example  of  the  third  case, 
where  two  non-complementary  colors  mutually  injure  each  other,  place  a  pure 
violet  and  a  blue  together,  and  they  will  mutually  injure  each  other,  because 
the  first  makes  the  second  look  green,  and  the  second  neutralizes  the  blue  of 
the  violet  and  makes  it  look  faded.  It  may  happen  that  the  colors  are  modi- 
fied, but  neither  gain  nor  lose  in  beauty,  or  that  one  gains  without  the  other 
losing,  and  that  one  neither  gains  nor  loses  while  the  other  loses.  In  the 
association  of  two  colors  belonging  to  the  same  scale,  or  to  scales  nearly 
allied  but  of  tones  very  widely  apart,  the  contrast  of  tone  may  have  a  favora- 
ble influence  upon  the  beauty  of  the  light  tone,  because  if  the  latter  is  not 
a  pure  color,  its  association  with  the  deep  tone,  brightening  it,  will  purify  what 
gray  it  has, 

All  the  primary  colors  gain  by  juxtaposition  with  white,  but  the  binary 


Harmony  and  Contrast  of  Color. 


49 


arrangements  which  result  from  them  are  not  equally  agreeable  ;  and  it  is 
to  be  remarked  that  the  depth  of  tone  of  a  color  has  a  great  influence  upon 
the  effect  of  its  conjunction  with  white.  The  binary  assortments  in  the  order 
of  their  greatest  beauty,  are  as  follows  :  Light  blue  and  white,  rose  and  white, 
deep  yellow  and  white,  bright  green  and  white,  violet  and  white,  orange  and 
white. 

Black  may  be  combined  most  advantageously,  not  only  with  sombre  colors, 
to  produce  harmony  of  analogy,  but  also  with  light  and  brilliant  colors,  to 
produce  harmony  of  contrast.  Chinese  artists  make  excellent  use  of  it ;  they 
often  judiciously  employ  it  on  furniture,  painting,  ornaments,  etc.  No  com- 
bination of  primary  colors  with  black  is  disagreeable,  but  there  exists  among 
them  a  generic  difference  of  harmony,  which  is  not  shown,  at  least  to  nearly 
the  same  degree,  in  the  binary  combinations  of  white  with  the  same  colors. 
In  fact,  the  brilliancy  of  white  is  so  predominant  that,  whatever  may  be  the 
difference  of  lightness  or  brilliancy  observed  between  the  various  associated 
colors,  there  will  always  be  the  harmony  of  contrast,  according  to  what  has 
been  said  of  the  influence  of  white  in  raising  the  tone  and  augmenting  the 
intensity  of  the  color  adjacent  to  it. 

Black  placed  beside  a  color  lowers  its  tone  ;  it  acts  as  if  we  added  black  to 
the  complementary  of  the  contiguous  color.  In  some  cases  it  impoverishes 
it,  as  in  the  case  of  certain  yellows.  If  a  black  pattern  be  placed  upon  a 
colored  ground  the  black  will  appear  tinged  with  the  complementary  of  the 
ground  upon  which  it  is  placed. 

Gray  bodies,  properly  selected  as  to  intensity  of  tone,  when  contiguous  to 
colored  bodies,  exhibit  the  phenomena  of  contrasts  of  color  more  strikingly 
than  either  black  or  white  substances  do.  All  the  primary  colors  gain  in 
purity  and  brilliancy  by  the  proximity  of  gray  ;  but  the  effects  are  far  from 
being  similar  or  even  analogous  to  those  which  result  from  the  proximity  of 
the  same  colors  to  white.  White  allows  each  color  to  preserve  its  integ- 
rity, and  even  heightens  it  by  contrast,  and  can  never  be  taken  for  a  color 
itself,  but  gray  can  ;  for  the  gray  becomes  tinged  with  the  complementary  of 
the  adjacent  color  and  may  appear  as  a  color  itself. 

Thus  we  see  that  colors  undergo  certain  modifications, — by  contact,  by 
the  shape  of  the  surface  colored,  the  texture,  the  dulness  or  pohsh  of  the 
surface  covered,  and  by  the  quality  of  the  light  which  illuminates  it.  We 
also  see  th 2  effect  of  simultaneous,  successive,  and  mixed  contrasts;  and, 
moreover,  that  in  associating  colors  the  complementary  arrangements  are 
superior  to  all  others  for  harmony  of  contrast,  provided  the  tones  are  of 
nearly  equal  intensity  ;  and,  again,  that  in  associating  non-complementary 
colors  the  result  is  different,  —  not  always  productive  of  harmony  or  harmoni- 
ous contrast ;  and,  further,  we  have  seen  the  effects  of  associating  colors  with 
white,  black,  or  gray.  Consequently,  for  a  painter  to  be  a  perfect  colorist,  he 
must  not  only  imitate  the  model  by  reproducing  the  image  faithfully,  with 
respect  to  the  variously-colored  light,  but  also  with  regard  to  harmony  of  tints 
in  the  local  colors  and  in  the  colors  of  the  different  objects  imitated ;  and 
although  there  are  colors  belonging  to  the  model  which  the  painter  cannot 
7 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


change  without  being  unfaithful  to  nature,  yet,  in  every  composition,  there 
are  also  colors  at  his  disposal  which  must  be  chosen  so  as  to  harmonize  the 
rest. 

In  a  landscape  the  colors  are  determined  by  the  subject,  yet  not  so  arbi- 
trarily but  that  we  can  substitute  for  the  true  color  that  of  a  neighboring 
scale.  The  artist  may  choose  the  color  of  the  sky,  imagine  numerous  acci- 
dental effects,  introduce  into  his  composition  animals,  draped  figures,  car- 
riages, etc.,  of  which  the  form  and  color  may  be  so  selected  as  to  produce  the 
best  possible  effect  with  the  actual  objects  of  the  scene.  A  painter  may 
choose  a  dominant  color  which  produces  on  every  object  in  his  composition 
the  same  effect  as  if  they  were  illuminated  by  a  light  of  the  same  color,  or 
as  if  they  were  seen  through  a  colored  glass.  Although  the  law  of  contrast 
affords  different  methods  of  imparting  value  to  a  color,  individual  genius 
alone  can  indicate  the  mode  in  which  this  idea  should  be  realized  in  painting. 


Design  Applied  to  Cast  Objects, 


51 


VI. 

THE  APPLICATION  OF  PRINCIPLES  OF  DESIGN  TO 
CAST  METAL  OBJECTS. 

It  has  been  said  by  Lord  Bacon  that  the  history  of  the  mechanical  arts  is 
the  most  important  branch  of  true  philosophy;  and  we  know  that  only  those 
nations  who  have  felt  the  truth  of  this  have  ever  attained  any  proud  position 
in  the  world  of  manufacture.  The  English  and  the  French  have  investigated 
with  earnestness  the  principles  which  underlie  design,  have  sought  out  and 
endeavored  to  apply  the  rules  which  should  govern  and  modify  the  desired 
union  of  beauty  and  utility,  and  to  this  fact  they  are  indebted  for  the  high 
reputation  they  have  gained  for  the  excellence  of  the  work  they  produce.  Let 
us  rejoice  that  the  attention  of  our  own  people  is  being  directed  to  this  sub- 
ject, and  look  forward  with  eagerness  and  trustfulness  to  the  day  when 
America  shall  rank  with  England  and  France  in  the  intrinsic  value  and  artistic 
beauty  of  her  manufactures. 

One  of  the  most  important  general  laws  established  by  the  inquiries  of  oth- 
ers into  the  application  of  principles  of  design  to  manufactured  articles,  is 
that,  namely,  the  basis  of  the  design  of  objects  executed  in  any  material  which 
nature  offers  to  our  use,  should  be  a  system  of  ornamentation  strictly  in  har- 
mony with  the  structure,  both  chemical  and  mechanical,  of  the  finished  arti- 
cle, with  the  value  of  the  materials  of  which  it  is  composed,  and  with  an 
association  of  idea  connected  with  them  and  with  its  purpose  and  probable 
destination. 

The  systems  of  decorative  treatment  of  two  materials,  similar  in  some 
essential  quaHties  but  diverse  in  others,  should  differ  in  the  exact  ratio  of 
those  discrepancies  ;  and  from  the  continual  observance  of  such  natural  con- 
ditions, it  would  seem  easy  to  estabhsh,  in  time,  a  system  of  common-sense 
design,  within  the  limits  of  which  the  artist  might  exercise  his  fancy  without 
danger  of  extravagance. 

Thus  in  the  manufacture  of  metals,  any  attempt  at  novelty,  to  be  satisfac- 
tory to  the  cultivated  taste,  must  be  executed  in  subservience  to  at  least  a 
three-fold  influence  :  firstly,  to  that  imposed  by  the  elementary  structure  of 
the  metal,  whether  gold,  silver,  iron,  or  bronze  ;  and  secondly,  to  that  dedu- 
cible  from  all  the  processes  of  manufacture  devised  by  human  ingenuity, 
conducted  in  obedience  to  the  peculiar  properties  of  each  metal ;  and,  thirdly, 


52 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


to  that  arising  from  emotions  dependent  upon  a  legitimate  and  sensible  asso- 
ciation of  ideas  founded  upon  a  study  of  all  that  has  been  done  in  the  best 
ages  of  the  past. 

In  considering  the  application  of  principles  of  design  to  cast  metal  objects, 
it  seems  naturally  to  treat  of  them  as  applied  to  the  formative  process,  and 
as  applied  to  the  decorative  process.  In  studying  the  first  part  of  our  sub- 
ject, we  shall  need  to  consider,  i,  the  character  of  the  different  metals  ;  2,  the 
process  of  casting ;  3,  the  principles  of  design  deduced  from  a  consideration 
of  these  two. 

1.  The  character  of  the  different  uietals.  —  Gold,  silver,  iron,  and  bronze 
are  the  principal  metals  pressed  into  the  service  of  the  arts.  Gold  and  silver, 
from  their  value,  ductility,  and  malleability,  are  not  so  well  adapted  for  casting 
as  for  being  wrought  upon.  Casting  in  silver  has,  however,  been  practised 
to  some  extent. 

Bronze  (a  compound  of  copper,  tin,  and  other  alloys),  from  its  intractability 
and  brittleness,  its  excessive  hardness  of  surface  and  facility  of  fusion,  de- 
mands a  completely  different  method  of  treatment.  Casting  and  chasing 
appear  to  be  best  suited  to  its  nature,  and  it  lends  itself  with  singular  felicity 
to  the  reproduction  of  the  highest  order  of  sculpture.  Its  compact  texture, 
shown  by  its  peculiarly  sonorous  properties,  dictates  a  system  of  hollow 
casting. 

Iron  is  capable  of  being  wrought  in  various  ways  :  it  may  be  cast  or  ham- 
mered cut  or  filed.  Casting  is  the  least  artistic  mode  of  treating  iron  ;  but  if 
iron  is  to  be  cast,  the  patterns  formed  should  be  so  fully  adapted  to  this 
method  of  manufacture  that  the  mode  of  working  may  be  readily  apparent. 
Cast  iron  should  appear  as  cast  iron  and  wrought  iron  as  wrought  iron. 

2.  The  process  of  casting.  —  Casting  is  reducing  a  metal  to  a  fluid  state  by 
means  of  heat,  and  then  pouring  it  into  moulds,  whose  cavities  it  fills,  and 
thus  constitutes  the  counterpart  of  the  model  by  which  the  form  of  these  cav- 
ities has  been  determined.  The  most  convenient  mode  of  making  moulds, 
and  that  now  universally  employed,  consists  in  selecting  materials  the  parti- 
cles of  which  possess  sufficient  cohesion  to  retain  their  form,  and  which 
yet  preserve,  at  the  same  time,  sufficient  openness  of  texture  to  allow  of  the 
free  escape  of  the  heated  vapors  and  gases  generated  at  the  moment  when 
the  liquid  metal  comes  in  contact  with  the  mould  into  which  it  is  poured. 
Certain  varieties  of  sand  are  found  to  best  answer  these  requisites  ;  but  as 
they  vary  in  different  cases,  the  qualities  of  the  sand  may  be  considera- 
bly modified  by  the  addition  of  materials  possessing  more  or  less  cohesive 
power,  such  as  loam,  brick-dust,  charcoal,  plaster,  etc.  The  simplest  opera- 
tion in  the  foundry  consists  in  making  up  a  bed  of  sand,  pressing  a  wooden 
or  metal  pattern  into  it,  removing  the  pattern,  which  leaves  its  imprint  in  the 
sand,  and  running  liquid  metal  into  this  matrix,  which,  on  cooling,  hardens 
and  retains  the  form  of  the  pattern.  In  order  to  prevent  the  weight  of  the 
metal  from  displacing  the  bank  of  sand,  it  is  necessary  to  confine  the  sand  in  a 
box.  When  only  one  box  is  employed,  the  upper  face  of  the  casting  can  only 
be  the  level  assumed  by  the  liquid  metal  on  running  into  the  open  mould. 


Design  Applied  to  Cast  Objects. 


53 


When,  therefore,  the  casting  requires  a  precise  form  on  both  sides,  two  such 
boxes  must  be  employed,  the  cavities  in  the  one  being  fastened  over  and 
opposite  to  those  in  the  other,  and  an  aperture  being  made  to  allow  of  pouring 
the  metal  in  to  fill  up  the  hollow  formed  between  them.  When  the  form  of 
the  pattern  is  complex,  several  other  boxes  are  added,  and  the  whole  being 
securely  bound  together,  the  metal  fills  up  the  cavities  formed  by  the  impres- 
sion of  the  pattern.  This  is  the  method  of  solid  casting  peculiarly  adapted  to 
iron. 

In  a  hollow  casting^  usually  applied  to  bronze,  and  always  used  in  cast- 
ing statues,  statuettes,  and  vessels  and  vases  in  most  metals,  the  method 
of  construction  is  different.  After  the  rrfould  has  been  made,  a  layer  of  clay 
of  the  prescribed  thickness  of  the  metal  is  laid  on  the  inside  of  it,  and  the 
remainder  of  the  space  is  filled  up  with  the  same  material  as  the  mould  has 
been  composed  of.  The  mould  having  been  taken  apart,  pieces  of  metal 
are  inserted  to  keep  the  core  in  its  place,  and  when  the  mould  is  again  fitted 
together,  a  space  is  left  which  will  eventually  be  occupied  by  the  metal. 

3.  Principles  of  for?native  design  dedjiced  frojn  a  consideration  of  the 
nature  of  metals  and  the  process  of  casting.  —  From  a  consideration  of 
the  nature  of  iron  and  the  process  of  solid  casting,  Mr.  Holtzappfel  gives 
us  the  following  principles  to  be  observed  in  designing  any  object  in- 
tended for  this  material  and  process :  "  The  designs  for  foundry  pat- 
terns should  always  be  a  little  taper  in  the  parts  which  enter  most  deeply 
into  the  sand,  in  order  to  assist  their  removal  from  the  sand,  when  their  pur- 
poses will  not  be  materially  interfered  with  by  such  tapering.  The  sides  and 
edges  of  the  pattern  must  also  be  made  a  little  out  of  parallel  or  square,  per- 
haps as  much  as  1-16  to  1-8  of  an  inch  to  the  foot.  Sharp  internal  angles 
should  be  avoided,  as  they  leave  a  sharp  edge  in  the  sand,  which  is  liable  to 
be  broken  down  on  the  removal  of  the  pattern,  or  to  be  washed  down  when 
the  metal  enters  into  the  mould.  Sharp  internal  angles  are  also  very  inju- 
dicious in  respect  to  the  strength  of  the  castings.  The  designer  must  also 
make  provision  that  the  contraction  of  the  metal  while  cooling  shall  proceed 
uniformly  over  the  whole  of  the  casting ;  otherwise  those  portions  which 
retain  their  heat  longest  would  tear  away/rom  those  which  had  set  most 
quickly.  Iron  contracts  nearly  one  per  cent  of  its  length  ;  brass  nearly  three 
times  as  much." 

The  highest  works  of  art  in  cast  metal  are  statues,  statuettes,  end  busts 
of  bronze.  Mr.  Wyatt  gives  us  certain  principles  to  be  observed  in  the  de- 
sign of  compositions  intended  for  reproduction  in  this  form.  They  give  us 
admirable  hints  of  the  differences  to  be  observed  in  designing  for  objects 
to  be  executed  in  dark-colored  metals,  or  in  light-colored  substances.  He 
says  :  "  One  important  element  in  designing  the  form  of  a  bronze  statue 
is  the  background  against  which  it  is  to  be  relieved.  If  this  is  light,  as 
when  brought  against  the  sky,  greater  fulness  must  be  given  to  the  pro- 
portions of  the  limbs.  If  dark,  as  when  the  figure  stands  in  a  niche,  a  con- 
trary proportion  should  be  adopted,  in  order  to  restrain  the  lighter  colored 
substance  from  appearing  to  swell  on  to  its  darker  ground.    Care  should 


54 


The  Antejix  Papers, 


be  taken  that  the  contour  is  clearly  defined,  not  cut  up,  or  so  lost  in  costume 
that  the  spectator  has  the  uncomfortable  impression  that  the  body  has  swollen 
to  the  dimensions  of  the  flowing  garments.  Striking  differences  of  proportion 
manifest  themselves  between  figures  executed  in  marble  and  those  in  bronze. 
In  consequence  of  the  dark  color  of  bronze,  every  portion  of  the  form,  in  order 
to  be  clearly  defined,  requires  a  certain  amount  of  conventional  treatment,  so 
as  to  increase  the  sharpness  and  precision  of  the  several  forms  and  markings, 
to  enable  the  spectator  to  appreciate  them  at  that  point  of  view  from  which 
he  may  Hkewise  take  in  the  general  outlines  upon  which  the  effect  of  the 
whole  figure  depends.  A  comparison  of  the  Greek  specimens  of  bronze  work 
with  those  ofVerrochio  and  Donatello  will  illustrate  the  precise  points  of 
exaggeration  by  means  of  which  great  solidity  of  shadow  was  invariably  ob- 
tained. The  light  being  supposed  in  every  case  to  descend  from  above,  the 
under  surface  of  every  projection  intended  to  throw  a  shadow  upon  a  surface 
beneath  was  always  hollowed  upwards,  and  brought  to  a  fine  edge  only  at  its 
extremity.  Thus,  the  eyebrow  was  marked  as  a  sharp  line,  and  the  eyes 
sunk,  as  it  were,  in  hollow  sockets,  increasing  the  depth  of  the  tint  of 
shadow  cast  by  the  eyebrow  by  turning  away  from  it  those  surfaces  likely  to 
receive  the  light  reflected  from  the  cheek,  nose,  or  other  adjacent  illuminated 
portions  of  the  head.  The  nostrils  were  likewise  brought  to  sharp  edges. 
The  whole  form  of  the  head  showed  that  the  artist  was  guided  in  his  design- 
ing by  a  consummate  knowledge  of  the  means  necessary  to  compensate  for 
and  overcome  the  optical  difficulties  attaching  to  the  material." 

It  should  always  be  remembered  that  we  are  dealing  with  a  plastic  material, 
and  may  therefore  employ  curves  and  reliefs  totally  inappropriate  to  stone  or 
marble.  There  are  a  few  general  and  indispensable  requisites  for  the  design 
of  a  truly  beautiful  form  for  any  object,  and  it  is  especially  needful  that  these 
should  be  carefully  heeded  in  designing  for  works  to  be  executed  in  cast 
metal,  on  account  of  their  possible  multiplication  through  the  medium  of 
casting,  and  also  of  their  durability. 

ist.  An  object  must  be  so  formed  as  to  fulfil  the  purpose  for  which  it  is 
intended.  2d.  That  purpose  must  in  no  way  be  disguised,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, should  be  apparent  on  th^  first  cursory  inspection.  3d.  The  general 
outline  should  be  symmetrical,  and  the  disposition  of  the  various  parts  so 
proportioned  as  to  appear  strong  and  equal  to  the  constructive  duties  they 
may  be  called  on  to  perform.  4th.  We  should  never  imitate  ornament  pecu- 
liarly identified  with  stone  or  marble,  in  iron,  bronze,  or  any  metal ;  never 
construct  in  them  what  may  be  better  executed  in  any  other  material ;  and 
always  remember  that  a  needless  display  of  strength  is  just  as  weak  as  an 
appearance  of  deficiency,  and  that  both  excesses  are  to  the  educated  eye 
almost  equally  objectionable.  5th.  Lightness  of  effect  is  especially  desirable 
in  designing  the  form  of  any  object  in  cast  metal. 

Mr.  Pugin  says  regarding  metal  work,  "  In  all  the  ancient  ornamental 
metal-work  we  may  discern  a  peculiar  manner  of  execution,  admirably  suited 
to  the  material,  and  quite  distinct  from  that  of  wood  and  stone.  The  and- 
irons which  supported  either  the  fuel  logs  where  wood  was  burned,  or  grates 


Design  Applied  to  Cast  Objects,  55 


for  coal,  were  frequently  of  splendid  design.  The  ornaments  were  generally 
heraldic,  and  it  was  not  unusual  to  work  the  finer  parts  on  iron  in  brass  for 
relief  of  color  and  richness  of  effect.  These  form  a  striking  contrast  with 
the  inconsistencies  of  modern  grates,  which  are  not  unfrequently  made  to 
represent  diminutive  fronts  of  castellated  buildings,  with  turrets,  loop-holes, 
windows,  and  doorways,  all  in  a  space  of  forty  inches.  The  fender  is  a  sort 
of  embattled  parapet,  with  a  lodge-gate  at  each  end.  The  end  of  the  poker 
is  a  sharp-pointed  finial,  and  at  the  summit  of  the  tongs  is  a  saint.  It  is  im- 
possible to  enumerate  half  the  absurdities  of  modern  metal  workers  ;  but  all 
these  proceed  from  the  false  notion  of  disguising  instead  of  beautifying 
articles  of  utility.  How  many  objects  of  ordinary  use  are  rendered  mon- 
strous and  ridiculous,  simply  because  the  artist,  instead  of  seeking  the  most 
convenient  form,  and  then  decorating  it,  has  embodied  some  extravagance  to 
conceal  the  real  purpose  for  which  the  article  has  been  made.  Neither  rela- 
tive scale,  form,  purpose,  nor  unity  of  style  is  ever  considered  by  those  who 
design  these  abominations." 

From  this  we  see  how  necessary  it  is  that  all  these  considerations,  relative 
scale,  form,  purpose,  and  unity  of  style,  should  be  ever  in  the  mind  of  the 
designer.  Indeed,  it  seems  as  if  he,  of  all  men  in  the  world,  needs  a  large 
amount  of  downright  common-sense.  With  this  possession  he  cannot  perpe- 
trate absurdities,  but  must  make  something  good  and  worthy  of  his  art. 

But  a  few  words  need  be  said  concerning  the  second  part  of  our  subject, — 
Design  applied  to  the  surface  decoration  of  cast-metal  objects.  Mr.  John 
Bell  says  that  "  the  superior  strength  and  compactness  of  metals  over  other 
materials  afford  the  opportunities  also  for  superior  fineness  of  parts  in  orna- 
mentation. Those  piercings  and  cuttings  which  would  be  inconsistent  with 
firmness  in  wood  or  porcelain  are  yet  durable  in  metal."  While  the  form  of 
the  object  should  always  be  most  carefully  adapted  to  use,  being  studied  for 
elegance  and  beauty  of  line  as  well  as  for  capacity,  strength,  mobility,  etc., 
care  should  be  taken  in  ornamenting  the  construction,  to  preserve  the  general 
form,  and  to  keep  the  decoration  subservient  to  it  by  low  relief  or  otherwise. 
The  ornament  should  be  so  arranged  as  to  enhance  by  its  lines  the  symmetry 
of  the  original  form  and  assist  its  constructive  strength.  If  arabesques  or 
figures  in  the  round  are  used  they  should  arise  out  of  the  ornamental  and 
constructive  forms,  and  not  be  merely  applied. 

The  amount  of  ornament  should  always  be  proportioned  to  the  purpose  of 
the  object  and  the  condition  of  its  probable  proprietor.  There  should  be  no 
direct  imitation  of  nature,  and  yet  no  perversion  of  her  forms.  It  would  be 
well  if  a  system  of  judicious  contrast  of  plane  surfaces  and  enrichment  were 
carried  throughout  such  works,  and  each  ornament  applied  only  to  those 
points  where  the  general  form  appears  to  demand  accentuation.  It  must 
ever  be  remembered  that  repose  is  required  to  give  value  to  ornament,  which 
in  itself  is  secondary  and  not  principal. 


56 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


VII 

DESIGN  AS  APPLIED  TO  WROUGHT  METAL, 

There  is  the  same  difference  between  an  object  in  wrought  metal  and  one 
in  cast  metal  as  there  is  between  an  original  work  in  clay  and  its  reproduction 
in  plaster  of  Paris.  Both  the  wrought  metal  and  the  clay  give  you  the  thought 
and  touch  of  the  artisan  or  artist,  while  the  cast  iron  and  the  plaster  cast  are 
but  mechanical  and  cheap  reproductions.  It  must  be  obvious  that  for  trade 
purposes,  in  which  the  element  of  cost  is  important,  that  which  is  capable  of 
being  produced  at  the  cheapest  rate  will  have  a  high  degree  of  popularity ; 
and  in  the  lower  or  subordinate  features  of  decoration,  in  which  sameness 
or  repetition  must  of  necessity  be  practised,  the  use  of  material  in  a  liquid 
state  —  either  molten,  as  in  metal,  or  mixed,  as  in  plaster,  or  impressionable 
and  soft,  as  in  clay —  is  a  matter  of  convenience,  because  of  its  readiness 
to  assume  any  form  desirable  for  it  to  take. 

The  worker  in  metal  who  desires  to  elaborate  an  original  idea  in  wrought 
iron  is  one  of  the  noblest  of  art-workmen.  His  work  involves  forethought, 
strength,  and  skill :  forethought  to  conceive  the  idea,  strength  and  skill  of 
hand  to  express  it.  Every  element  of  creative  ingenuity  is  here  called  into 
play,  will,  power,  and  experience  are  to  achieve  a  victory  over  the  half-melted 
iron  harder  to  achieve  than  many  won  on  the  battle-field,  because  it  will  be 
a  victory  gained  over  the  sturdy  and  unyielding  material  of  one  of  the  hardest 
of  substances  ;  but  there  is  a  hope  in  the  workman  that  just  as  the  strong 
arm  compels  and  shapes  the  unwiUing  material,  so  the  impress  of  his  thought 
will  be  fresh,  having  the  virtue,  in  this  imitative  age,  of  being  like  itself  and 
not  a  mere  echo  of  another's  thought.  It  will  have  neither  the  vulgarity  of 
manufactured  forms  turned  out  by  the  hundred  nor  the  unimportance  of  details 
which  must  be  reckoned  by  the  thousand  to  have  any  effect  at  all.  The  smith 
with  his  anvil  and  hammer  has  always  been  a  symbol  of  honorable  industry 
from  the  most  ancient  times,  and  in  some  of  the  best  art-epochs  hand-workers 
in  metal  have  been  numbered  as  artists.  This  is  to  be  accounted  for  by  that 
which  has  already  been  described  ;  yet  the  artist  is  pre-eminently  one  who 
makes  original  work,  whether  in  metal,  stone,  or  on  canvas.  It  is  said  that 
the  character  of  true  art-work  is  shown  in  its  details,  and  some  of  the  most 
thorough  and  beautiful  modern  industrial  art-work  is  to  be  found  in  the 
wrought-metal  screens,  gates,  candelabra,  and  other  details  of  revived  Gothic 
architecture. 


Design  as  Applied  to  Wrought  Metal.  57 


Wrought-iron  work,  terra-cotta,  encaustictile  work,  embroidery,  and 
stained  glass  stand  forth  amongst  the  shams  and  make-believes  of  many 
branches  of  modern  industrial  art,  like  a  company  of  honest  men  in  a  com- 
munity of  thieves  and  impostors,  —  and  I  say  this  because  all  good  art,  fine 
or  industrial,  must  have  the  impress  of  some  originality  and  actual  pur- 
pose. To  do  work  that  is  simply  easy  because  it  can  be  accomplished 
without  thought  or  labor,  or  because  it  meets  the  frivolous  demands  of  a 
fashion  that  is  constantly  changing,  is  to  employ  the  serious  labors  of  a  life  in 
obedience  to  the  demand  of  a  trifling  and  unconscientious  master.  Anything 
which  can  infuse  into  the  works  of  our  hands  a  seriousness  which  will  make 
us  feel  responsible,  not  only  to  ourselves  but  to  the  whole  society  in  which  we 
live  and  the  race  of  which  we  are  members,  is  an  advantage  to  all,  and  any 
branch  of  art  which  involves  the  labor  of  the  strong  arm,  the  exercise  of  the 
determined  will,  and  the  employment  of  forethought  and  skill,  is  equally 
advantageous  in  the  world  of  art  and  industry.  To  understand  the  principles 
of  design  as  applied  to  wrought  metal  in  contradistinction  to  that  which 
would  be  appHcable  to  castings,  we  must  define  the  difference  between  the 
two.  In  cast  work  the  original  design  has  first  to  be  made  in  another  mate- 
rial, such  as  clay  or  wood.  A  mould  in  sand  is  taken  from  this  original,  and 
the  metal  in  a  liquid  state  poured  into  the  mould.  When  the  metal  is  cool 
the  mould  is  removed,  leaving  the  cast-metal  work  in  a  rough  state,  to  be 
finished  by  hand  labor,  if  in  silver,  gold,  or  bronze.  This  process  in  the 
precious  metals  is  called  chasing,  and,  together  with  the  sister  art  of  emboss- 
ing, is  really  wrought-metal  work  of  a  refined  and  artistic  character.  Thus 
the  cups  and  shields  of  Cellini  or  Flaxman  were  first  modelled  in  clay,  cast 
into  plaster,  recast  into  silver,  and  finally  finished  or  chased  in  the  precious 
metal  itself.  The  limitations  involved  in  this  kind  of  work  make  it  appro- 
priate only  to  subjects  in  low-relief,  in  which  there  are  no  under  cuttings,  as 
there  must  be  in  figures  highly  relieved  from  their  background ;  and  many  of 
the  most  beautiful  masterpieces  of  artistic  metal-workers  have  been  worked 
up  from  outlines,  with  the  added  roundness  suggested  by  good  perspective. 
Such  work  is  a  compromise  between  cast  and  wrought  metal  work,  having 
some  of  the  characteristics  of  both.  Perhaps  the  most  complete  example 
that  can  be  given  of  cast  metal  work  is  an  ornamental  railing  which  is  cast 
in  lengths,  each  forming  a  detail  complete  in  itself,  and  requiring  no  finishing 
by  the  hand  ;  whilst  an  equally  good  instance  of  wrought-metal  work  would 
be  a  scroll  of  stem  and  foliage  hammered  out  from  a  single  bar  of  iron  upon 
the  anvil ;  some  of  its  more  exuberant  details  being  separately  wrought  and 
bolted  to  the  main  stem  by  rivets.  It  must  be  evident  from  this  that  the 
forms  which  can  be  worked  out  in  wrought  metal  must  depend  for  their 
effect  principally  upon  the  purity  and  refinement  of  their  outlines  rather 
than  upon  the  delicate  variations  of  their  surfaces.  What  is  to  be  done 
in  the  material  which  is  to  be  wrought,  must  be  done  whilst  it  is  hot, 
and  therefore  in  a  soft  state,  for  as  it  cools  it  becomes  harder  and  there- 
fore more  difficult  to  work.  A  great  advantage  of  working  in  iron  is  the  light- 
ness and  delicacy  which  are  possible  in  so  strong  a  material ;  for  it  should 
8 


58 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


be  remembered  that  every  stroke  of  the  hammer  increases  the  tenacity 
and  durability  of  the  metal.  A  design  which  would  appear  weak  and  flimsy 
in  cast  iron,  because  of  the  friable  nature  of  the  metal  when  cast;  would 
appear  strong  and  graceful  in  wrought  work,  from  the  hardened,  fibrous 
nature  of  the  hammered  metal.  Projections  or  isolated  portions,  liable  to 
fracture  upon  a  comparatively  slight  touch  if  cast,  are  strong  and  durable 
if  hammered  upon  the  anvil.  These  considerations  must  necessarily  deter- 
mine the  character  of  wrought-iron  work.  The  capacity  for  artistic  effect 
is  so  much  greater  when  the  relief  or  direction  of  the  parts  may  be  any- 
thing we  like  to  make  them,  than  when  it  is  limited  by  the  comparative 
weakness  of  the  material,  that  designs  for  wrought  iron  should  never  resem- 
ble designs  for  cast  iron.  It  should  not  be  entirely  forgotten  that  in  some 
instances,  where  great  strength  is  required,  such  as  -in  columns  or  pillars 
which  are  to  bear  great  weight,  cast  iron  is  said  to  be  stronger  than  wrought, 
on  account  of  its  resistance  to  compression.  Thus  wrought  iron  will  bend 
without  breaking :  cast  iron  cannot  bend  without  being  fractured  ;  so  that 
when  a  cross-strain  or  compression  may  be  possible  cast  metal  is  preferable 
to  wrought.  What  concerns  us,  however,  in  considering  the  question  of 
design  applied  to  this  material,  is  the  character  of  the  ornament  which  may 
be  applied  to  it  rather  than  the  value  of  the  metal  as  a  building  material. 

While  speaking  generally  of  wrought  iron,  we  must  not  forget  that  brass 
also  is  often  wrought.  In  bygone  times  even  lead  and  pewter  were  both  used 
as  materials  for  ornamental  works  in  metal.  In  modern  days,  however,  the 
two  great  materials  for  wrought  work  are  iron  and  brass.  Brass,  as  being 
the  softer  of  the  two,  is  more  extensively  used  for  ecclesiastical  metal  work, 
candelabra,  screens,  hinges,  and  all  work  where  elaborate  ornament  is  in 
place.  Let  us  see  how  works  in  wrought  metal  may  be  used  consistently, 
having  due  regard  to  their  constructive  value  as  well  as  to  their  ornamental 
effect.  The  weaker  materials  employed  in  the  constructive  arts  require  to  be 
strengthened  by  the  strong  materials  ;  and  here  comes  in  the  skill  of  the 
architect  or  the  ingenuity  of  the  engineer.  In  details,  however,  the  orna- 
mentist  is  employed  ;  and  though  in  its  grandest  and  most  comprehensive 
use,  the  engineer  perhaps  may  shape  the  lines  of  a  bridge  or  an  ocean 
steamer,  in  a  manner  that  will  unite  both  the  strength  and  the  beauty  which 
metal  can  be  made  to  assume,  or  the  architect  may  so  use  this  noble  material 
that  it  may  be  the  ultimate  expression  of  graceful  and  accomplished  service, 
it  yet  belongs  to  the  ornamentist  to  express  in  the  most  complete  manner 
the  artistic  capabiHties  of  a  material  which  is  both  strong  and  beautiful. 
Wrought  metal  may  be  used  entirely  by  itself,  being  both  constructive  and 
ornamental,  as  in  the  case  of  ornamental  gates,  whether  for  domestic  or 
ecclesiastical  purposes,  or  it  may  be  used  in  combination  with  other  materials, 
such  as  wood  or  stone.  In  wood  it  may  be  used  to  form  the  hinges  of  doors 
or  cabinets,  or  the  handles  for  the  same.  In  stone  it  may  form  the  con- 
nection between  different  slabs,  or  serve  as  a  shield  or  protection  for  the  more 
delicate  parts.  Occasionally  stone  is  protected  by  iron,  as  before  the  west 
front  of  Antwerp  Cathedral,  where  a  public  well  is  covered  by  a  delicate 


Design  as  Applied  to  Wrought  Metal, 


59 


network  of  wrought-iron  tracery,  said  to  have  been  the  work  of  Quentin 
Matsys,  a  mechanic  who  subsequently  developed  into  a  fine  artist,  in  more 
senses  than  one.  It  may  not  be  irrelevant,  both  for  artistic  and  social  pur- 
poses, to  tell  his  story:  "Quentin  Matsys  was  a  worker  in  iron  at  Antwerp 
in  the  15th  century.  He  was  what  would  be  called  in  these  days  a  black- 
smith, because  he  wrought  in  a  dull  colored  metal,  in  contradistinction  to 
a  whitesmith,  who  works  in  lighter  colored  material  of  the  same  nature.  At 
the  age  of  twenty  he  was  already  a  lover  of  the  beautiful,  and  being  so, 
could  hardly  help  falling  in  love  with  the  most  charming  object  within  the 
range  of  his  daily  vision.  That  object  was  the  daughter  of  a  painter  at  Ant- 
werp, who  was  not  averse  to  being  wooed,  but  could  only  be  won  by  a 
painter  like  her  father.  It  has  been  said  that  the  strongest  of  all  feelings  is 
the  love  that  a  young  man  feels  for  .a  young  woman  ;  and  we  have  the 
authority  of  the  most  conscientious  of  historians  for  saying  that  this  love 
which  Quentin  Matsys  felt,  actually  turned  his  anvil  into  a  canvas,  and  his 
hammers  and  files  into  brushes  and  pigments.  He  saw  that  this  wayward 
maiden's  affections  could  only  be  gained  through  the  medium  of  fine  art,  and 
that  in  her  view  the  industrial  art  of  a  blacksmith  was  not  of  this  character, 
Down  went  the  hammer,  and  the  anvil  gave  forth  no  more  musical  sounds. 
The  artisan  forsook  his  noisy  workshop  and  commenced  a  new  apprenticeship 
to  fine  art,  at  which  he  labored  until  success  shone  upon  him  ;  and  when 
his  first  triumph  as  an  artist  was  displayed  to  the  approving  gaze  of  the 
maiden's  father,  the  transformed  blacksmith  could  exclaim  like  young  Loch- 
invar,  "  She  is  won  !  They  '11  have  fleet  steeds  that  follow." 

This  mediaeval  example  is  not  without  parallel  in  later  days.  Some  of  the 
very  best  modern  artists  began  their  experience  in  the  workshop,  and  before 
we  can  assume  to  lead  and  improve  public  taste  in  the  higher  branches  of 
art  we  ought  to  demonstrate  to  the  world  that  we  comprehend  its  necessities 
as  well  as  its  enjoyments. 

The  principles  of  good  design  apply  to  this  as  to  all  industrial  efforts,  and 
in  the  general  statement  of  these  principles  the  application  of  skill  to  work- 
ing in  iron  is  directed  in  common  with  other  processes.  The  same  general 
laws  which  should  guide  the  ornamentist  in  one  branch  of  industrial  art, 
should,  recognizing  the  difference  of  material  employed,  direct  him  in  all.  At 
the  same  time,  though  fitness,  adaptation  to  purpose,  and  beauty  should  be 
alike  characteristic  of  all  branches  of  industrial  art,  there  must  be  controlling 
circumstances,  in  each,  which  will  decide,  not  only  the  amount,  but  the  char- 
acter of  the  ornamentation  employed. 

Skill  in  design  and  arrangement  having  been  acquired,  its  proper  appli- 
cation to  special  departments  of  industry  will  depend  upon  a  knowledge  of 
special  requirements,  the  nature  of  materials,  and  the  capabilities  of  manu- 
facture, all  of  which  knowledge  can  be  readily  mastered  by  those  who  have 
already  overcome  the  greater  difficulty  of  learning  to  design. 

The  highest  authority  yet  recognized  in  England  on  the  general  subject  of 
industrial  design,  is  Richard  Redgrave,  R.  a.,  Inspector  General  for  Art  of 
the  British  Government.    The  work  which  won  for  him  this  high  reputation, 


60 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


was  a  report  on  design  as  represented  at  the  Great  International  Exhibition 
held  in  London  in  the  year  1851.  From  this  work  is  quoted  the  following, 
relating  to  general  principles  in  design  :  — 

"  The  ornament  of  past  ages  was  chiefly  the  offspring  of  handicraft  labor  : 
that  of  the  present  age  is  of  the  engine  and  the  machine.  This  great  differ- 
ence in  the  mode  of  production  causes  a  like  difference  in  the  results.  In  the 
old  times  the  artist  was  at  once  designer,  ornamentist,  and  craftsman,  and  to 
him  was  indifferent  the  use  of  the  pencil  or  the  brush,  of  the  hammer,  the 
chisel,  or  the  punch.  His  hand  and  his  mind  wrought  together,  not  only  in 
the  design  but  in  every  stage  of  its  completion,  and  thus  there  entered  a 
portion  of  that  mind  into  every  minute  detail  and  into  every  stage  of  finish ; 
and  many  a  beautiful  afterthought  was  embodied  by  the  hand  of  the  *  cunning 
artificer,'  many  a  grace  added  to  the  work  by  his  mastery  and  skill.  He 
worked,  not  to  produce  a  rigid  sameness,  but  as  Nature  works,  she  produces 
nothing  exactly  similar  to  its  fellow  ;  in  every  turn  of  every  stage  of  growth, 
in  every  flower  and  in  every  leaf,  adding  a  changing  grace,  a  differing  beauty. 
So  he  varies  his  labors  with  every  feeling  of  his  overflowing  mind.  But  this 
is  not  possible  with  the  stamp,  the  mould,  the  press,  and  the  die,  the  orna- 
mental agents  of  our  days  :  after  the  type  or  mould  is  made,  all  the  products 
are  rigidly  the  same,  whence  arises  a  sickening  monotony,  a  tiresome  same- 
ness, unknown  in  the  works  of  nature  and  peculiar  to  these  artificial  works 
of  man;  the  varying  mind  has  no  share  in  their  production,  and  man  himself 
becomes  only  the  servant  of  the  machine.  Moreover,  the  old  ornamentist 
worked  generally  from  feelings  of  piety,  from  love  of  his  labors,  or  from  the 
desire  of  fame, —  motives  hardly  known  to  the  artist  of  this  class  in  our  days, 
at  least  in  this  country.  Who  seeks  fame  from  the  ephemera  of  a  season 
Who  loves  a  labor  that  is  so  soon  to  pass  away  ?  Who  cares  for  a  work  that 
is  not  to  be  the  child  of  his  own  hand,  but  to  be  produced  in  thousands  by 
the  aid  of  machinery  ?  The  toil  of  him  of  old  times  was  spent  upon  the 
thing  itself  and  not  upon  a  mere  model  for  it ;  the  chalice,  the  cup,  the  lock 
and  key,  the  reliquary,  were  to  be  without  repetition  and  without  rivals  ;  he 
sought  to  give  them  their  highest  excellence,  and,  laboring  from  one  of  the 
feelings  we  have  described,  threw  his  whole  soul  into  his  work,  so  that  it 
became  a  thing  for  future  ages  to  look  upon  and  to  prize. 

"  Not  that  handicraft  or  art-workmanship  is  utterly  excluded  from  our  manu- 
factures ;  it  is  only  partially  so,  making  more  painfully  evident  how  greatly 
ornamental  art  has  suffered  from  its  new  union  with  machinery.  Wherever 
ornament  is  wholly  effected  by  machinery,  it  is  certainly  the  most  degraded 
in  style  and  execution  ;  and  the  best  workmanship  and  the  best  taste  are  to 
be  found  in  those  manufactures  and  fabrics  wherein  handicraft  is  entirely  or 
partially  the  means  of  producing  the  ornament,  as  in  china  and  glass,  in  works 
in  the  precious  metals,  carving,  etc.  This  partly  arises  from  the  facilities 
which  machinery  gives  to  the  manufacturer,  enabling  him  to  produce  the 
florid  and  overloaded  as  cheaply  as  the  simple  forms,  and  thus  to  satisfy  the 
large  market  for  the  multitude,  who  desire  quantity  rather  than  quality,  and 
value  a  thing  the  more  the  more  it  is  ornamented.    This  state  of  modern 


Design  as  Applied  to  Wrought  Metal.  6i 


manufacture,  whereby  ornament  is  multif)lied  without  limit  from  a  given 
model,  by  the  machine  or  the  mould,  ought  at  least  to  awaken  in  the  manu- 
facturer a  sense  of  the  importance  of  the  first  design.  One  would  think  that 
what  was  to  be  produced  by  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  should  at  least 
be  a  work  of  beauty,  and  no  pains  be  spared  to  ensure  its  excellence.  The 
cost  of  the  first  design  or  model  must  in  such  a  case  be  a  mere  atom  when 
divided  among  its  myriad  prototypes.  It  would  seem  strange,  too,  that  any 
one  could  be  found  to  throw  away  great  expense  upon  dies  and  moulds,  to 
carry  out  a  design  which  in  itself  was  hardly  thought  worth  paying  for.  Yet 
often  in  this  country  artists  are  paid  little  better  than  workmen,  and  a  belief 
seems  to  prevail  that  knowledge,  skill,  and  taste  come  by  nature.  The  artist 
has  often  no  interest  in  the  result  of  his  labors,  his  name  is  unknown,  his  pay 
is  niggardly,  and  what  there  may  be  of  beauty  and  excellence  in  his  work  is 
often  spoiled  by  the  alterations  of  the  manufacturer,  who  makes  no  scruple 
of  setting  his  own  taste  above  that  of  the  artist,  and  altering  and  changing  a 
design  at  his  sole  pleasure.  In  France,  and  some  parts  of  Germany,  where 
taste  has  long  been  cultivated  and  the  value  of  ornamental  design  is  better 
understood,  these  relations  are  better  understood  also  ;  and  in  this  country, 
if  good  taste  is  to  prevail,  the  manufacturer  must  learn  to  appreciate  more 
highly  the  value  of  the  designer's  labors,  and  must  seek  to  foster  his  talents 
and  stimulate  his  amour propre. 

"  Such  works  in  iron  as  gates,  balconies,  and  panels  are,  for  the  greater 
part,  in  cast  metal,  which,  of  late  years,  from  its  capability  of  cheap  ornamen- 
tation, has  almost  wholly  superseded  wrought  iron  for  these  purposes.  When 
the  object  is  intended  to  be  fixed  and  immovable,  as  a  balcony  or  panel,  cast 
work  is  not  unsuitable,  and  is  capable  of  much  beauty  of  ornamental  design. 
The  ornament  may  add  to  the  strength  by  its  numerous  articulations,  while 
it  is  light  and  elegant  in  its  forms.  Works  of  this  kind  are  generally  of  a  size 
to  admit  of  casting  in  one  piece,  ensuring  thereby  strength  and  lightness  by 
continuity  of  parts.  But  in  cast  iron  constructions  intended  to  be  movable, 
as  in  the  various  kinds  of  gates,  a  very  different  character  of  design  is  neces- 
sary ;  in  the  first  place,  because  entire  casting  is  not  always  possible,  both 
from  the  difficulty  of  running  the  metal  into  the  numerous  ramifications  of  the 
ornament  in  works  of  such  mcreased  size,  and  from  the  fear  of  warping  in 
the  cooling,  as  well  as  the  great  expense  of  a  mould,  which  is  saved  by  form- 
ing the  ornament  of  a  series  of  parts.  This  leads  to  the  necessity  of  framing 
the  work  in  wrought,  and  applying  the  ornamental  details  in  cast  iron  ;  but 
hence  results  this  evil,  —  that  the  ornament  has  little  constructive  use,  and  is 
apt  to  look  rather  an  addition  than  an  integral  part  of  the  work.  In  the  park- 
gates  exhibited,  great  pains  have  been  taken  to  get  over  this  difficulty,  but 
not  with  success,  since  the  two  metals  are  joined  in  parts  wholly  at  variance 
with  constructive  strength  ;  in  fact,  it  is  a  wrought-iron  design,  partly  executed 
in  cast  metal.  Moreover,  cast-iron  ornament  is  necessarily  far  heavier  than  that 
of  wrought  iron,  from  the  extreme  brittleness  of  the  cast  metal.  This  heavi- 
ness is  sadly  opposed  to  its  real  constructive  strength  in  the  manner  usually 
adopted  for  putting  together,  the  ornamental  parts  of  such  structures  being 


62 


The  A^itefix  Papers. 


riveted  or  screwed  into  the  framing.  There  are  smaller  points  of  attachment 
than  in  wrought  iron  ;  the  parts  bed  themselves  less  perfectly  at  the  junction, 
since  it  is  impossible  to  assist  this  union  with  the  hammer,  and  the  metal  has 
small  tenacity,  and  easily  breaks  with  any  sudden  jar ;  thus  there  is  much 
less  power  to  support,  while  there  is  of  necessity  much  greater  weight  to  bear, 
and  without  very  careful  and  well-considered  design,  making  the  ornament  as 
far  as  possible  a  brace  to  the  work,  the  whole  is  apt  to  be  an  insecure  aggre- 
gation of  parts,  without  constructive  unity  or  truth.  In  large  works,  cast  in 
one  piece,  such  difficulties  are  readily  surmounted,  as  weight  can  then  be 
made  to  add  strength,  instead  of  detracting  from  it.  In  the  old  hammer- 
wrought  gates,  the  ornament  was  not  only  a  truly  integral  part  of  the  work, 
but  most  materially  assisted  in  the  general  support.  Thus  great  lightness 
and  elegance  were,  in  this  case,  consistent  with  great  strength,  since  the  orna- 
mental details  supplied  a  means,  not  only  of  tying  and  bracing  the  work 
together,  but  of  preventing  the  front  of  the  gate  from  drooping  with  its  own 
weight,  to  the  great  hinderance  of  its  use,  and  which  in  cast  works  of  this  kind 
has  often  to  be  assisted  by  the  use  of  friction  rollers,  —  a  make-shift  that  the 
older  workmen  would  have  despised.  When,  therefore,  we  consider  the  varied 
beauty  of  which  wrought  iron  is  capable,  its  far  greater  durability,  its  tenacity 
and  power  of  resisting  accidents,  the  individuality  of  design  which  arises 
from  its  being  wrought  by  the  hand  instead  of  cast  in  a  mould  (thereby  leaving 
the  fancy  and  the  feeling  of  the  workman  untrammelled),  it  seems  not  too 
much  to  say  that  it  is  to  be  hoped  the  use  of  the  wrought  metal  will  again  pre- 
vail over  that  of  cast  for  such  purposes." 

From  Scott's  ''Half-Hour  Lectures  on  Art"  the  following  extracts  are 
selected  :  — 

"  Iron,  as  has  been  already  remarked,  is  by  far  the  most  important  of  the 
metals,  and  is  also  the  most  difficult  to  procure  and  prepare.  The  armor  of 
the  ancients  was  brazen,  and  the  weapons  of  the  common  soldiers  also,  down 
to  a  comparatively  late  date,  before  our  era.  Whether  Homer  was  acquainted 
with  iron  at  all  is  a  question  among  his  commentators,  although  Hesiod, 
about  the  same  time,  along  with  the  Golden,  Silver,  and  Brazen,  mentions  the 
Iron  Age.  Whether  iron  was  worked  in  Britain  at  the  Roman  conquest  of  the 
island  is  also  doubtful,  although  Caesar  says  rings  of  iron  were  circulated  as 
money.  If  so,  they  might  have  come  in  exchange  in  commerce  ;  rings  of 
gold  used  for  a  similar  purpose  were  certainly  in  circulation.  Of  what  metal 
the  swords  or  scythes  were  made  with  which  the  axles  of  the  native  chariots 
were  armed  does  not  appear.  But  it  is  quite  certain  our  iron  works  were  in 
active  operation  immediately  after  the  Roman  settlement,  as  Roman  coins  and 
pieces  of  Samian  ware  have  been  found  under,  and  mixed  with,  the  cinder-heaps 
or  accumulations  of  scoria  in  the  forest  of  Dean  in  Sussex,  and  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Bradford,  Wilts.  Hadrian  entered  Britain  120,  and  Scrivenor,  in  his 
history  of  the  iron  trade,  supposes  it  probable  that  the  fabrica  ox  ^xtzX  military 
forge  was  established  at  Bath  in  the  following  year.  Manufactories  of  arms 
had  been  then  lately  introduced  as  part  of  the  Roman  system,  and  must  have 
been  found  highly  advantageous,  as  they  were  planted  in  such  parts  of  subju- 


Design  as  Applied  to  Wrought  Metal.  63 


gated  provinces  as  presented  abundance  of  iron.  These  fabriccB  were  organ- 
ized colonies  or  colleges  of  armorers.  The  armor-smiths  working  in  these 
factories  were  formed  into  companies,  each  governed  by  a  head,  the  business 
of  these  companies  being  to  make  arms  for  the  legion  to  which  they  were 
attached.  The  arms  so  made,  when  not  required  for  distribution,  were  piled 
up  in  adjacent  arsenals.  Each  armorer  had  a  stipend  settled  upon  him,  and 
was  not  allowed  to  leave  the  colony,  having  a  stigma  or  mark  burned  into  his 
arm  on  becoming  a  member  of  the  fabrica.  Nothing  escaped  the  quick  sight 
of  these  civilized  invaders  ;  and  although,  after  four  centuries  of  rule,  the 
Romans  left  Britain  little  the  better  for  their  refinements,  while  in  possession 
they  appear  to  have  been  actively  employed  in  many  arts  connected  with 
metals.  Coining  was  carried  on  in  several  places  :  they  tried  for  gold,  by 
breaking  up  the  quartz  now  lying  in  enormous  mounds  near  Lampeter  ;  silver 
they  also  found  ;  and  pigs  of  lead,  stamped  with  Roman  names,  have  frequently 
been  recovered  in  Derbyshire  and  elsewhere. 

"  The  first  distinct  mention  of  native  iron  works  is  in  the  Doomsday  Book. 
In  this  record  the  city  of  Gloucester  was  required  to  pay  royal  tribute  in  the 
shape  of  iron,  — thirty-six  dicars  of  iron,  ten  bars  to  a  dicar,  and  one  hundred 
iron  rods  for  nails  or  bolts.  Shortly  afterwards  iron  and  steel  began  to  be  im- 
ported from  Germany  and  other  countries.  The  German  merchants  of  the 
steel- yard,  of  whom  we  now  hear,  are  thought  to  have  been  traders  in  these  met- 
als, dealing  at  a  place  so  called.  The  defensive  armor  of  the  period,  made  in 
various  parts  of  Europe,  was  constructed  of  fine  steel  rings,  woven  together  to  fit 
the  body  closely,  and  admirably  tempered,  the  helmets  being  caps  of  polished 
plate,  to  the  edge  of  which  ring-mail  for  the  neck  was  attached.  In  the  pub- 
lic records  of  England,  which  contain  an  infinity  of  curious  matter,  we  find 
some  notices  of  iron  worth  extracting.  In  the  thirteenth  year  of  Edward  II, 
the  Sheriff  of  Surrey  and  Sussex  is  ordered  to  provide  horse  shoes  and  nails 
for  the  expedition  against  the  Scots.  A  little  later,  in  1327,  we  hear  of  can- 
non, supposed  to  have  been  then  first  used  in  that  country  by  Edward  III  in 
his  invasion  of  Scotland.  These  were  made  of  banded  iron  till  the  invention 
of  gun  metal  much  improved  the  weapon,  about  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  Still  importation  increased,  not  only  of  the  material,  but  of  manu- 
factured articles  of  all  sorts,  and  an  Act  of  Parliament  was  at  last  procured 
by  the  hammer-men  of  London  and  other  towns,  in  1483,  prohibiting  the 
importation  of  many  articles  of  iron-work. 

"  The  abandonment  of  beaten  iron  as  a  material  for  the  treatment  of  the 
designer  is  much  to  be  regretted,  its  strength  and  elastic  character  fitting  it 
so  well  for  tracery  and  foliage,  and  qualifying  it  for  taking  an  expression  at 
the  hand  of  the  artist  which  no  other  material  can  supply. 

"  The  stroke  of  the  hammer  has  infinitely  more  expression  than  any  cast 
from  a  mould,  even  were  the  molten  metal  much  more  ductile  and  better  fitted 
for  sharp  castings  than  we  ever  find  it." 

My  last  extracts  are  from  Dresser's  "  Principles  of  Decorative  Design." 

"There  are  various  modes  of  working  metal.  It  may  be  cast,  hammered, 
cut,  engraved,  and  manipulated  in  various  ways.    Little  that  is  satisfactory 


64 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


can  result  from  casting.  Casting  is  a  rough  means  of  producing  a  result, 
and  at  best  achieves  the  formation  of  a  mass  which  may  be  less  troublesome 
to  cut  into  shape  than  a  more  solid  piece  of  metal ;  but  casting  without  the 
application  of  other  means  of  working  metal  achieves  little  of  an  art  nature. 

Let  us  take  a  sugar-basin.  What  form  should  it  have  ?  The  handles  are 
often  so  small  as  to  be  partially  or  wholly  useless  ;  it  not  unfrequently  hap- 
pens that  only  one  or  two  fingers  can  rest  on  the  handle,  owing  to  its  small- 
ness,  while  the  thumb  has  to  be  placed  within  the  orifice  of  the  basin  when  it  is 
desired  to  move  it.  This  should  not  be  so  :  if  a  handle  is  to  exist  at  all  it 
should  be  so  formed  as  to  be  useful  and  afford  a  means  of  moving  the  object 
with  ease  and  comfort.  To  form  a  handle  as  a  mere  ornament  is  an  absurd- 
ity ;  for  the  handle  is  part  of  the  vessel  structurally,  while  the  ornamenta- 
tion is  an  after  and  separate  consideration.  In  order  to  its  existence  a  vessel 
must  be  constructed,  but  when  formed  it  need  not  of  necessity  be  orna- 
mented ;  ornamentation  must  ever  be  regarded  as  separate  from  construction. 

Damascene  work  is  of  great  interest.  Metal  of  one  color  is  inlaid  into 
metal  of  another  color.  India  produces,  perhaps,  the  rarest  examples  of  this 
kind  of  work,  the  Indians  being  experts  at  this  kind  of  manufacture  ;  but 
the  Indian  work  consists  chiefly  of  silver  inlaid  in  iron.  This  mode  of  work 
seems  to  be  capable  of  producing  many  beautiful  effects,  as  all  who  have 
examined  the  large  inlaid  hookahs  of  India  will  admit. 

Having  chosen  a  form  for  a  vessel,  the  next  question  with  which  we  have 
to  deal  is.  Will  it  require  a  handle  and  spout  It  is  curious  that  while  the 
position  of  a  spout  and  handle  in  relation  to  a  vessel  is  governed  by  a  simple 
natural  law,  we  yet  rarely  find  them  placed  as  they  should  be.  This  is  the 
more  curious  as  a  vessel  may  become  practically  of  great  weight,  owing  to 
the  handle  being  misplaced.  A  pound  weight  is  easily  lifted,  but  when 
applied  to  the  longer  end  of  the  steel-yard  it  will  balance  a  hundred  weight. 
If  this  principle  is  applied  to  a  tea-pot,  which  actually  weighs  but  little,  it  may 
yet  be  very  heavy  to  lift.  In  nineteen  cases  out  of  twenty,  handles  are  so 
placed  on  tea-pots  and  similar  vessels  that  they  are,  in  use,  lifted  only  by 
a  force  capable  of  raising  two  or  three  such  vessels,  if  the  principle  of  the 
steel-yard  was  not  acting  against  the  person  who  uses  the  vessel. 

The  object  of  art  is  the  giving  of  pleasure  ;  the  mission  of  the  artist  is 
that  of  giving  ennobHng  pleasure.  If,  as  an  artist,  I  give  pleasure,  I,  to  an 
extent,  fulfil  my  mission  ;  but  I  do  so  perfectly  only  when  I  give  the  greatest 
amount  of  the  most  refined  pleasure  by  my  art  that  it  is  possible  for  me  to 
give.  If,  by  producing  works  that  can  be  procured  by  many,  I  give  pleasure, 
it  is  well  that  I  do  so  ;  but  if  the  many  fail  to  derive  pleasure  from  my  works, 
then  I  must  address  myself  to  the  few,  and  be  content  with  my  lesser  mission. 
Education  appears  to  be  necessary  to  the  appreciation  of  all  art :  the  artist, 
then,  is  a  man  who  appeals  to  the  educated. 

Utility  and  beauty  are  not  inseparable ;  if  an  article  of  any  kind  is  in- 
tended to  answer  any  particular  end,  it  should  be  fitted  to  answer  the  end 
proposed  by  its  formation ;  but  after  it  is  created,  as  a  work  of  utility,  care 
must  be  exercised  in  order  that  it  be  also  a  work  of  beauty.    With  due  con- 


Design  as  Applied  to  Wrought  Metal.  65 

sideration,  almost  every  work  may  be  rendered  both  useful  and  beautiful,  and 
it  must  ever  be  the  aim  of  the  intelligent  ornamentist  to  render  them  so. 

Casting  is  the  least  artistic  mode  of  treating  iron  ;  but  if  iron  is  to  be 
cast,  the  patterns  formed  should  be  so  fully  adapted  to  this  method  of  manu- 
facture that  the  mode  of  working  may  be  readily  apparent.  It  is  foolish  to 
make  cast  iron  appear  as  wrought  iron.  Cast  iron  should  appear  as  cast 
iron,  and  wrought  iron  as  wrought  iron.  Cast  iron  is  brittle,  and  must  not  be 
relied  upon  as  of  great  strength  ;  while  wrought  iron  is  tough,  and  will  bend 
under  great  pressure  rather  than  break.  Wrought  iron  can  be  readily  bent 
into  scrolls,  or  the  end  of  a  rod  of  metal  can  be  hammered  flat  and  shaped 
into  the  form  of  a  leaf,  and  parts  can  be  welded  together  or  fastened  by  small 
collars,  pins,  or  screws. 

In  iron  work  the  manifestation  of  a  true  constructive  principle  is  beyond 
all  things  desirable.  Iron,  being  a  strong  material,  should  not  be  formed 
into  heavy  masses  unless  immense  weight  has  to  be  sustained,  or  very  great 
strength  is  required.  If  we  form  lamps,  candelabra,  and  such  works  of  iron, 
it  is  obvious  that  the  portions  of  metal  employed  in  the  construction  must  be 
thin,  as  the  material  is  of  great  strength.  Were  we  to  form  such  works  of  wood, 
then  a  greatly  increased  thickness  of  material  would  be  necessary  in  order 
that  the  same  strength  be  secured,  as  wood  is  not  nearly  so  strong  as  iron. 

Notice  the  ease  with  which  iron  may  be  treated  if  a  correct  mode  of  work- 
ing be  employed.  Let  a  bar  of  iron  be  taken  which  is  about  half  an  inch  in 
thickness  by  one  and  a  quarter  broad.  This  can  be  rolled  into  a  volute,  or 
its  end  can  be  hammered  out  into  stems  and  leaves,  and  to  it  can  be  attached 
other  leaves  by  rivets,  screws,  or  ties,  or  it  can  be  bent  into  any  structural 
form.  Let  the  student  study  the  shapes  into  which  simple  bars  of  iron  can 
be  beaten  —  both  mentally,  and  by  observing  well-formed  works. 

Brass,  copper,  and  other  metals  may  be  associated  with  iron  in  the  forma- 
tion of  any  works.  If  well  managed,  brass  and  other  bright  metals  may 
act  as  gems,  that  is,  they  may  give  bright  spots  ;  but  where  the  bright 
metals  are  used  with  this  view,  care  must  be  exercised  in  order  that  the 
bright  spots  be  formed  by  beautiful  parts,  and  that  their  distribution  be  just, 
for  that  which  is  bright  will  attract  first  attention." 

Having  the  example  of  the  best  men  iu  past  days  to  guide  us,  let  us  en- 
deavor to  prove  that  Art  is  as  capable  of  beautifying  daily  life  as  she  is  compe- 
tent to  excite  the  most  pious  and  patriotic  aspirations.  Let  us  strive  to  show 
that  underlying  the  highest  requirements  of  life  there  is  first  a  necessity  or 
service,  and  that  without  it  the  mere  affectation  of  service,  even  if  rendered  in 
the  most  ornamental  manner,  is  a  delusion  and  a  snare.  For  this  reason, 
work  in  wrought  metal,  from  its  capacity  of  service  in  the  first  place,  and  its 
capability  of  refined  art  expression  in  the  second,  is  a  thing  which  should 
have  our  respect  and  love.  It  is  capable  of  being  in  the  highest  degree  ser- 
viceable and  in  the  most  exalted  degree  beautiful ;  and  therefore  we  should 
regard  this  art  of  the  hand-worker  in  wrought  metal  as  one  of  the  means  by 
which  the  love  of  art,^  and  the  industrial  use  of  art,  which  together  make  up 
the  highest  ideal  of  industrial  art,  can  be  expressed. 
9 


66 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


VIII. 

DESIGN  APPLIED  TO  CARVED  OBJECTS. 

"  Design,"  says  Redgrave,  "  has  reference  to  the  construction  of  any 
work  both  for  use  and  beauty,  and  therefore  includes  its  ornamentation  also. 
Ornament  is  merely  the  decoration  of  a  thing  constructed." 

The  first  aim  of  the  designer  of  any  article  must  be  to  render  it  useful. 
It  must  be  made  not  only  useful,  but  as  perfectly  suited  to  the  purpose  for 
which  it  is  intended  as  it  can  be.  It  matters  not  how  beautiful  the  object  is 
intended  to  be,  it  must  first  be  formed  as  though  it  were  a  mere  work  of 
utility  ;  and  after  it  has  been  carefully  made  with  this  end  in  view,  it  may  then 
be  rendered  as  beautiful  as  possible  ;  for  an  object  may  be  beautiful,  and  yet 
useful. 

The  art  of  carving  in  wood  is  of  ancient  date.  Nuremberg  was  celebrated 
for  its  wood-carvings  centuries  ago,  and  this  kind  of  decoration  was  long 
since  used  for  adorning  the  altars  in  German  and  Belgian  churches. 

The  different  processes  of  carving  in  wood  are  interesting,  as  affording  an 
idea  of  the  different  designs  employed. 

Carvings  may  be  of  two  kinds,  either  in  what  is  called  low-relief,  being 
rather  flat,  or  only  slightly  raised  ;  or  high-relief,  where  the  figures  are  made 
to  stand  out  more  boldly  from  the  background.  The  tools  for  wood-carving 
are  very  few,  —  a  mallet,  one  or  two  chisels  (one  of  them  known  as  the  V 
chisel,  from  the  shape  of  its  sharp-pointed  blade),  several  gouges  of  different 
sizes,  files,  etc.  etc.  The  outline  of  the  design  may  be  drawn  upon  the 
wood  for  carving  in  low-relief,  and  a  shaded  drawing  also  may  be  used  as  a 
guide.  The  designs  for  large  pieces  of  carving  are  often  made  on  a  small 
scale,  and  then  enlarged  by  the  workman  that  he  may  have  a  full-sized  draw- 
ing to  work  from.  First,  the  whole  is  blocked  out  by  cutting  around  the  prom- 
inent figures,  and  then,  following  the  lights  and  shadows  in  the  drawing, 
which  represent  the  different  kinds  of  relief,  they  are  rounded  into  shape.  This 
is  far  less  difficult  than  carving  designs  in  high-relief,  in  which  case  a  much 
thicker  block  of  wood  is  required,  as  many  of  the  forms  which  are  flat  in  the 
drawing  may  be,  in  the  carved  work,  in  a  plane  oblique  to  the  ground-work, 
or  even  at  right  angles  with  it.  For  example,  suppose  it  is  desired  to  carve 
a  flower  which  is  seen  in  profile.  The  carver  cuts  into  the  solid  block  with 
the  chisel  and  mallet  in  the  vicinity  of  the  flower,  leaving  a  hole,  the  size 


Design  Applied  to  Carved  Objects. 


67 


of  which  varies  according  to  the  object  to  be  carved.  Then,  on  one  of  the 
sides  of  this  cavity  in  the  wood,  he  marks  the  outlines  of  the  flower  in  pencil, 
and  proceeds  to  carve  it ;  but  it  is  evident  that  the  workman  has  much  judg- 
ment and  taste  if  he  successfully  catches  the  spirit  of  the  design,  and  ex- 
presses it  upon  the  wood.  Sometimes,  where  it  is  essential  that  a  form 
should  be  exactly  reproduced,  as  of  a  face  or  head,  a  model  in  plaster  is  given 
him,  and  in  machine  carving  this  model  is  indispensable. 

I  propose  to  give  a  little  sketch  ot  this  method  of  carving ;  for  though  the 
best  and  most  finished  work  is  not  done  in  this  way,  it  is  useful  in  repro- 
ducing different  forms  in  a  rapid  manner.  A  copy  of  any  —  even  an  elab- 
orate —  work  may  be  made  by  means  of  machinery,  though  the  ornament 
will  lack  that  smoothness  of  surface  and  delicacy  of  finish  characteristic  of 
good  works.  Machinery  will  do  for  the  sculptor  and  carver  what  engraving 
has  done  for  the  painter.  The  machine  for  wood-carving  consists  of  two  parts. 
The  first  or  horizontal  part  is  the  bed-plate  and  floating-table,  on  which  the 
blocks  of  wood  to  receive  the  carving  and  the  copy  are  placed ;  the  second 
or  vertical  part  of  the  machine  is  that  which  carries  the  tracing  and  cutting 
tools,  the  only  motion  of  which,  except  the  revolution  of  the  cutters,  is  ver- 
tical. The  object  to  be  copied  is  placed  between  two  blocks  of  wood ;  the 
tracer  is  placed  over  the  object,  and  the  cutters  over  the  blocks  of  wood. 
These  three  —  the  tracer  and  cutters  being  fastened  to  an  unyielding  bar  — 
obey  exactly  the  same  vertical  motion :  as  the  tracer  is  raised  or  depressed 
in  passing  over  the  model,  so  are  the  cutters  lifted  from  or  sunk  into  the 
wood.  There  is  a  treadle  below  the  table  which  is  managed  by  the  work- 
man's foot,  and  by  it  he  is  enabled  to  raise  or  depress  the  cutter.  Thus  any 
design,  howev^er  elaborate,  if  modeled  in  clay,  may  be  executed  in  wood  by 
machinery.  But  machine-carving  is  often  faulty  in  design  and  inappropriately 
used,  and  plain  wood,  without  decoration,  is  in  far  better  taste  than  most  of 
the  styles  of  machine-carving  used  at  the  present  day. 

Wood-carving  admits  of  minute  elaboration  ;  and  yet  there  may  be  an 
excess  of  finish  in  works  of  carving  connected  with  cabinet  work ;  for  if  the 
finish  is  too  dehcate,  there  is  a  lack  of  effect  in  the  res"ult.  A  piece  of  furni- 
ture is  not  a  miniature-work,  which  is  to  be  investigated  in  every  detail.  It 
is  an  object  of  utility,  which  is  to  appear  beautiful  in  a  room,  and  is  not  to 
command  undivided  attention. 

Dresser  says,  "  Carving  should  be  sparingly  used,  and  is  best  confined  to 
mouldings,  or  projecting  or  terminal  ends.  If  employed  in  mouldings,  those 
members  should  be  enriched  which  are  more  or  less  completely  guarded 
from  dust  and  injury  by  some  overhanging  member.  If  more  carving  is 
used,  it  should  certainly  be  a  mere  enrichment  of  necessary  structure."  He 
says  further,  "  I  am  not  fond  of  carved  panels  ;  but  should  these  be 
employed,  the  carving  should  never  project  beyond  the  styles  surrounding 
them,  and  in  all  cases  of  carving,  no  pointed  members  must  protrude  so  as 
to  injure  the  person  or  destroy  the  dress  of  those  who  use  the  piece  of  furni- 
ture. If  carving  is  used  sparingly,  it  gives  us  the  impression  that  it  is 
valuable  ;  if  it  is  lavishly  employed,  it  appears  to  be  comparatively  worthless. 


68 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


The  aim  of  art  is  the  production  of  repose.  A  large  work  of  furniture  which 
is  carved  all  over  cannot  produce  the  necessary  sense  of  repose,  and  is, 
therefore,  objectionable." 

Wood-carving  is  appropriate  for  cabinets,  coffers,  sideboards,  and  other 
repositories  of  household  goods  ;  but  it  should  be  sparingly  used  upon  chairs, 
tables,  couches,  and  in  all  situations  where  a  knotted  lump  of  wood  is  likely 
to  prove  uncomfortable  to  the  touch.  Ancient  decorative  carving  is  far 
superior  to  modern  work  of  the  same  sort,  being  sometimes  rude,  but  pos- 
sessing much  strength  and  beauty. 

It  is  oftentimes  considered  by  some  of  the  so-called  best  designers  that 
the  best  proof  of  good  carving  is  its  exact  imitation  of  nature  ;  but  it  is  no 
less  true  for  carved  work  as  for  other  decorative  work,  that  natural  objects 
employed  in  a  design  should  be  conventionalized,  though  the  foliage  em- 
ployed in  Gothic  architecture  in  the  decoration  of  the  capital  is  carried 
around  the  bell  in  something  of  a  wreath-like  form,  and  often  exhibits  much 
of  natural  freedom.  The  oak,  the  ivy,  the  hazel,  the  vine,  the  fern,  etc.,  are 
frequently  very  beautifully  and  closely  copied  from  nature. 

Wood-carving,  applied  as  a  means  of  decoration  to  doors  of  cabinets  and 
other  similar  places,  should  be  treated  after  a  thoroughly  abstract  fashion. 
Table-frames  are  sometimes  decorated  with  a  delicate  bas-relief  of  ornament, 
which  is  very  pleasing. 

The  character,  situation,  and  extent  of  ornament  should  always  depend  on 
the  nature  of  the  material  employed  as  well  as  the  use  of  the  article  itself. 
Mouldings  were  originally  employed  to  decorate  surfaces  of  wood  or  stone, 
which  sloped  either  vertically  or  horizontally  from  one  plane  to  another. 
Thus,  the  mouldings  of  a  door  represent  the  bevelled  or  chamfered  edge  of 
the  stout  frame- work  which  holds  the  slighter  panels.  It  is  obvious,  there- 
fore, that  these  mouldings  ought  to  be  worked  in  the  solid  wood,  and  form  a 
part  of  the  frame -work  referred  to,  and  they  should  not  be  allowed  to  project 
beyond  the  surface  of  the  door-frame.  The  same  is  true  of  the  cornice 
which  crowns  the  book-case. 

The  best  and  most  picturesque  furniture  of  all  ages  has  been  simple  in 
general  form,  though  often  enriched  with  elaborate  carved  work.  Old 
frames  for  mirrors,  made  in  the  last  and  previous  centuries,  were  moulded 
and  carved  out  of  solid  wood.  In  former  days,  when  wood  was  cheaper  than 
it  is  now,  oak-panels  were  commonly  used,  not  only  in  the  halls  and  passages, 
but  in  many  rooms  of  even  a  small-sized  London  house.  The  judicious 
association  of  the  "  bead  fillet  and  hollow "  for  mouldings  was  a  simple, 
honest,  and  frequently  effective  mode  of  decoration. 

In  connection  with  this  subject,  much  might  be  said  about  architecture, 
the  decoration  of  stone  columns,  etc.  In  Egyptian  architecture  the  columns 
of  the  temples  are  of  a  very  ornamental  character,  and  in  most  cases  were 
formed  of  a  bundle  of  papyrus  stems,  bound  together  by  thongs  or  straps, 
the  heads  of  the  plant  forming  the  capital  of  the  column  and  the  stems  the 
shaft.  In  some  cases  the  lotus  was  substituted  for  the  papyrus,  and  in  other 
instances  the  palm-leaf  was  used  in  a  similar  way. 


Design  Applied  to  Carved  Objects. 


69 


We  have  here  an  opportunity  of  noticing  how  the  mode  of  building,  how- 
ever simple  or  primitive  in  character,  first  employed  by  a  nation,  may  become 
embodied  in  its  ultimate  architecture  ;  for  undoubtedly  the  rude  houses  first 
erected  in  Egypt  were  formed  largely  of  bundles  of  the  papyrus,  which  were 
gathered  from  the  river-side,  as  wood  was  rare  in  Egypt ;  and  ultimately, 
when  buildings  were  formed  of  stone,  an  attempt  was  made  to  imitate  in 
the  new  material  the  form  which  the  old  reeds  presented.  But,  mark,  the 
imitation  was  no  gross  copy  of  the  original  work,  but  a  well-considered  and 
perfectly-idealized  work,  in  which  the  bundle  of  reeds  received  true  architec- 
tural qualities. 

In  one  respect  the  Greeks  resembled  the  Egyptians,  for  they  rarely  created 
new  forms.  When  once  a  form  became  sacred  to  the  Egyptians  it  could  not 
be  altered  :  but  with  the  Greeks,  while  bound  by  no  such  law,  the  love  of  old 
forms  was  great ;  yet  the  Greeks  did  not  seek  simply  to  reproduce  what  they 
had  before  created,  but  labored  hard  to  improve  and  refine  what  they  had 
before  done  ;  and  even  through  succeeding  centuries  they  worked  at  the 
refinement  of  simple  forms  and  ornamental  compositions,  which  have  become 
characteristic  of  them  as  a  people. 

In  treating  of  design  it  is  difficult  to  separate  ornament  from  architecture. 
The  material  at  command,  the  religion  of  the  people,  and  the  climate  have, 
to  a  great  extent,  determined  the  character  of  the  architecture  of  all  ages 
and  nations  ;  but  they  have,  to  the  same  extent,  determined  the  nature  of  the 
ornamentation  of  the  edifices  raised.  Ornament  always  has  sprung  from 
architecture,  or  been  a  mere  reflex  of  the  art-principles  of  the  building  deco- 
rated. We  cannot  rightly  consider  ornament  without  architecture.  Decora- 
tion should  be  in  accordance  with  the  traditional  development  of  original  and 
necessary  forms. 

In  reference  to  sculpture,  the  following  quotations  from  Mrs.  Jameson  may 
not  be  inappropriate  :  — 

"The  word  sculpture  (from  sculpo,  to  carve)  signifies  whatever  is  cut  or 
carved  into  shape.  We  apply  the  word,  technically,  to  all  the  productions  of 
the  plastic  or  formative  arts  ;  that  is  to  say,  to  all  imitations  of  natural  forms 
fashioned  out  of  any  solid  material,  whether  they  be  modelled  in  clay  or  wax, 
cast  in  metal  or  gypsum,  carved  in  wood  or  ivory,  hewn  in  stone  or  metal. 

"As  we  distinguish  the  productions  of  sculpture,  considered  as  one  of  the 
fine  arts,  under  two  divisions,  in  the  first  we  comprise  all  insulated,  complete 
figures,  single  or  grouped.  These  we  call,  in  a  general  way,  statues ;  they 
may  be  standing,  seated,  or  recumbent.  In  the  second  division  we  place  all 
figures  which  are  partly  raised  on  a  flat  plane,  which  we  style,  in  a  general 
way,  bas-reliefs. 

"  But  when  we  would  describe  accurately  we  distinguish  between  —  I.  Basso- 
Relievo,  bas-relief  or  low  relief,  where  the  figures  are  shghtly  projected.  II. 
Mezzo-Relievo,  half  relief,  where  half  the  figure  appears  as  if  sunk  in  the 
block,  and  half  above  it.  III.  Alto-Relievo,  plain  relief,  high  relief,  where 
the  figure  is  almost  detached  from  the  plane  behind,  standing  out  from  it, 
though  still  not  wholly  detached  from  it. 


70 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


"  In  the  mediaeval  sculpture,  and  the  modern  imitations  of  it,  we  find  a  mixed 
style,  in  which  all  the  three  degrees  of  relief  are  used,  the  figures  in  the  back- 
ground being  in  very  flat  relief,  those  in  the  middle-ground  in  half  relief,  and 
those  immediately  in  front  in  high  relief. 

"  One  of  the  first  considerations  of  sculpture  is  the  material.  We  should 
observe  that  the  management  and  capabilities  of  different  substances  are 
considerations  of  great  importance ;  that  figures  which  look  well  in  one 
material  do  not  look  well  in  another ;  that  metal  requires  a  different  treat- 
ment from  marble,  and  is  fitted  for  purposes  where  marble  would  be  misplaced. 
Size  is  another  of  the  external  conditions  of  sculpture  which  must  be  well 
considered.  Many  subjects  which  are  extremely  graceful  and  ornamental,  of 
small  size,  become  repulsive  when  enlarged.  When  a  figure  is  rather  above 
nature  we  style  it  'heroic';  when  much  above  the  natural  height  it  is 
'colossal.'  If  a  statue  be  half  the  size  of  life,  or  less,  it  is  called  a  statu- 
ette. Some  of  the  antique  colossal  statues  may  be  diminished  into  statuettes, 
retaining  their  grace  and  even  their  sublimity ;  but  a  subject  originally  con- 
ceived of  a  small  size  can  seldom  be  enlarged  to  colossal  dimensions. 

"  The  locality  for  which  a  statue  is  intended  is  also  of  great  importance,  — 
whether  for  a  church,  a  temple,  a  hall,  a  gallery,  a  room,  or  a  garden  ;  whether 
for  a  high  or  a  low  situation.  A  statue  which  is  to  be  placed  in  the  open  air, 
or  to  enter  into  an  architectural  composition,  or  to  form  part  of  a  sacred 
monument  or  an  historical  memorial,  requires  a  different  treatment  from  one 
which  is  to  decorate  a  room  in  a  palace.  A  central  situation  in  a  large  space 
requires  that  the  figure  and  attitude  should  display  beauties  in  every  point  of 
view.  The  management  of  bas-relief  requires  great  skill,  that  neither  the 
figures  be  too  numerous  nor  the  lights  too  multiplied  and  broken,  for  then  we 
lose  distinctness.  Simplicity,  therefore,  is  one  of  the  necessary  conditions  of 
a  fine  bas-relief. 

"  Sculpture  is  much  more  limited  in  regard  to  subject  than  painting, —  a  con- 
sideration we  must  carefully  keep  in  view,  for  very  frequently  a  work  of  sculp- 
ture is  displeasing,  not  from  any  fault  in  the  execution,  but  because  it  ought 
never  to  have  been  executed  at  all,  because  it  represents  that  which  is  essen- 
tially unfitted  for  sculptural  treatment.  We  should  be  able  in  looking  round 
these  courts  of  modern  sculpture  to  designate  the  subject,  its  appropriate 
conception  and  artistic  treatment. 

"  The  subject  is  classical  when  it  is  selected  from  the  ancient  mythology  and 
poetry.  Thus,  Cupid  is  a  classical  subject,  whether  treated  a  V  antique  with 
Greek  simplicity  and  consummate  purity  of  taste,  or  with  modern  sentiment. 

"  Strictly  speaking,  modern  sculpture  would  comprise  all  that  is  not  antique 
sculpture.  But  for  the  purposes  of  critical  discrimination,  we  divide  the  his- 
tory of  sculpture  into  five  periods  :  — 

"i.  That  which  preceded  the  highest  development  of  Greek  art,  com- 
prising the  Egyptian,  Ninevite,  and  Lycian  remains.  2.  What  we  call  the 
"  Antique,"  comprehending  all  the  sculpture  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans, 
down  to  the  complete  subversion  of  the  Roman  Empire,  that  is,  from 
about  B.  C.  to  the  sixth  century  of  our  era.  3.  Mediaeval  sculpture, 
comprehending  all   those   productions    of  the  art  which  date  from  the 


Design  Applied  to  Carved  Objects, 


n 


sixth  to  the  twelfth  century.  During  this  time  we  find  sculoture  chiefly 
in  alliance  with  architecture,  and  devoted  almost  entirely  to  religious  pur- 
poses. The  examples  which  remain  to  us  of  this  period  we  call  Byzantine 
and  Gothic.  They  are  often  curious  for  their  significance,  and  interesting 
from  their  sentiment ;  but  as  far  as  knowledge  of  art  or  elegance  of  form  is 
concerned,  they  must  be  pronounced  crude.  4.  The  period  which  we  style 
the  Renaissance  (revival)  comprehends  all  the  productions  of  sculpture  from 
the  revival  of  literature  and  art  in  the  fourteenth  to  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  In  the  beginning  of  this  time  the  art  was  struggling  between  a 
newly-awakened  admiration  for  the  beautiful  remains  of  antiquity  and  an 
ignorance  of  the  principles  on  which  they  were  produced.  There  was  a 
leaning  to  the  picturesque  and  Gothic  in  style,  redeemed  by  exquisite  grace 
and  elevated  feeling,  and  often  by  an  elaborate  elegance  of  execution.  But 
by  degrees,  as  the  real  spirit  of  antique  art  was  misapprehended,  and  the  imi- 
tation of  nature  was  neglected  and  even  contemned,  the  taste  became  more 
and  more  mistaken  and  depraved  and  reached  its  utmost  point  of  caprice  and 
degradation  in  the  works  of  Bernini  and  his  followers,  towards  the  close  of 
the  seventeenth  century. 

"The  observer  will  find  in  the  various  courts  of  architecture  and  sculpture 
at  the  Crystal  Palace,  —  Assyrian,  Egyptian,  Greek  and  Roman,  Byzantine, 
Mediaeval,  Renaissance,  —  specimens  of  all  the  periods  here  mentioned,  from 
the  human-headed  bulls  of  Nineveh  down  to  the  "  Nymph  of  Fontainebleau." 

"  5.  Modern  sculpture  dates  from  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  to 
the  present  time  ;  but  till  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  even  later, 
the  influence  of  the  late  Renaissance  school,  more  or  less  modified  by  national 
or  individual  influences,  reigned  paramount.  A  style  at  once  pompous  and 
fantastic,  that  of  Louis  Quatorze,  pervaded  the  arts  of  Europe.  In  the  begin- 
ning of  the  last  century  there' were  no  schools  or  ateliers  of  sculpture  but  the 
French. 

"  In  looking  over  the  courts  of  modern  sculpture,  we  cannot  but  be  struck 
by  some  national  characteristics.  In  the  English  school  of  art,  with  some 
brilliant  exceptions,  the  general  faults  are  negative,  —  a  want  of  largeness  of 
style,  a  poverty  of  invention,  a  want  of  fire  and  vigor  in  conception  and  of 
elegance  in  execution.  In  the  best  works  there  is  a  purity  and  depth  of  feel- 
ing, united  to  great  elegance  of  execution.  In  the  French  school  there  is  a 
tendency  to  the  capricious,  the  sensual,  the  meretricious.  In  the  German 
school  we  are  struck  by  power  and  poetical  feeling,  and  by  a  largeness  of 
style,  but  also  frequently  by  exaggeration  and  the  want  of  grace  and  repose. 
In  the  best  Italian  examples,  there  is  much  fire  and  poetry  of  conception  and 
delicacy  in  the  treatment ;  the  faults  most  predominant  in  the  Florentine  and 
Roman  schools  are  feebleness  and  mannerism.  It  will  be  remarked  that  the 
Milanese  sculptors,  who  rank  high  in  point  of  originality  and  talent,  have 
taken  a  decided  turn  to  the  romantic  and  picturesque  style  of  art. 

"  In  none  of  the  fine  arts  does  such  an  amount  of  ignorance  prevail  as  in 
sculpture.  It  is  a  universal  complaint  with  sculptors  that  they  are  forced  to 
deviate  from  their  own  convictions  of  the  true  and  the  beautiful  to  please  the 
unrefined  taste  of  patrons." 


72 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


IX. 

DESIGN  APPLIED  TO  PRINTED  FABRICS. 

The  art  of  printing  goods  may  be  said  to  have  been  created  within  the  last 
fifty  years.  As  practised  in  the  early  part  of  the  century,  it  was  comparatively 
rude.  The  designs  to  be  impressed  upon  the  cloth  were  engraved  upon  a 
square  block  of  wood,  and  the  color  being  applied  to  this,  it  was  impressed 
upon  the  cloth,  which  was  then  drawn  forward,  and  a  new  application  of  the 
block  made. 

This  was  the  style  of  printing  practised  originally  by  Robert  Peel,  grandfather 
of  the  prime  minister  of  England.  An  improvement  was  afterward  made  by  en- 
graving the  design  upon  a  copper  cylinder,  and  bypassing  the  cloth  over  this? 
the  work  was  done  with  more  precision  and  continuity.  This  method  was 
costly,  however,  for  one  such  cylinder  engraved  would  print  only  1500  pieces 
of  cloth.  Mr.  Perkins  of  Newburyport,  Mass.,  then  invented  the  die.  This 
is  a  steel  roller,  on  which  the  design  is  engraved,  and  made  exceedingly  hard. 
From  this  it  is  conveyed  by  pressure  to  a  soft  steel  roller,  which  prints  the 
cloth.  The  original  block  printing  would  take  but  one  color ;  now,  by  en- 
graving the  dies  and  rollers  with  portions  of  the  designs,  several  colors  may 
be  printed.  The  rollers  are  placed  upon  the  printing-machine  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  the  cloth  passes  slowly  over  the  large  drum  of  the  machine,  and  each 
in  succession  impresses  it  with  its  special  design  and  color.  The  style  and 
quality  of  ladies'  dress  goods  of  cotton  and  of  wool  have  thus  made  rapid 
strides  in  the  last  few  years. 

The  felting  qualities  of  wool  have  caused  it  to  be  used  for  many  important 
purposes,  among  which  are  the  manufacture  of  piano-covers  and  druggets, 
designs  being  printed  upon  them.  Oil-cloths  are  printed  in  a  very  different 
manner.  The  cloth  used  is  several  feet  in  width,  and  in  length  sometimes 
exceeds  one  hundred  yards.  Large  pieces  of  suitable  length  are  cut  off, 
stretched  on  wooden  frames,  and  a  solution  of  glue  or  a  glue  size  is  applied, 
which  enters  the  pores  and  makes  a  surface  or  ground  for  the  first  coat  of 
paint.  This  ground,  while  damp,  is  rubbed  with  pumice-stone,  and  when  dry 
the  first  coat  of  paint  is  laid  on,  and  well  worked  into  the  cloth.  In  two 
weeks  this  is  dry,  and  the  last  coat  is  put  on  with  a  brush,  which  forms 
the  ground  on  which  the  design  is  to  be  placed.    Two  or  three  months  are 


Design  Applied  to  Printed  Fabrics.  73 


required  to  complete  these  operations,  and  the  canvas,  for  it  has  now  become 
such,  is  ready  to  be  placed  upon  the  tables,  where  it  is  stamped  with  large 
wooden  types  made  of  pear-tree  wood. 

In  different  ages,  people  have  had  many  diverse  ideas  as  to  the  forms  best 
adapted  for  the  decoration  of  surfaces,  but  all  unite  in  one  common  thought 
in  the  very  general  use  of  geometrical  forms.  Far  back  in  the  early  ages  we 
find  these  forms  used  more  than  others,  and  they  seem  the  most  suitable  for 
printed  materials. 

The  savage  tribes  knew  nothing  of  printing  goods,  yet  they  had  the  idea 
of  decoration  in  one  way  and  another.  A  few  simple  tools  were  all  the  instru- 
ments they  possessed  with  which  to  stamp  their  goods  ;  but  with  these  few, 
prompted  by  genius  in  many  cases,  they  produced  beautiful  designs.  The 
simplicity  of  the  several  portions  or  units  of  design  constituted  the  charm  of 
their  productions.  Leaves  of  various  kinds  were  interspersed  with  simple 
geometrical  forms,  as  stars  or  dots,  giving  a  new  and  ever-varying  effect. 
Thus  the  possession  of  such  simple  tools,  even  by  the  most  uncultivated,  if 
guided  by  an  instructive  observation  of  the  forms  in  which  all  the  works  of 
nature  are  arranged,  would  lead  to  the  creation  of  all  the  geometrical  arrange- 
ment of  forms  with  which  we  are  acquainted. 

The  secret  of  success  in  all  ornament  is  the  production  of  a  broad  effect 
by  repetition  of  a  few  simple  elements.  Variety  should  rather  be  sought 
through  the  arrangement  of  the  several  portions  of  the  design  than  in  the 
multiplicity  of  varied  forms.  Graceful  symmetry  and  perfect  distribution  in 
design  was  characteristic  of  past  ages,  and  the  same  ought  to  be  applicable 
to  the  present. 

If  ornaments  are  used  for  a  design  of  any  of  these  fabrics,  strive  to  omit 
all  shadow  or  relief.  If  flowers  or  foliage  or  any  natural  object  is  to  be  the 
element,  we  should  study  nature  closely  first,  and  conventionalize  these 
forms  previously  found  to  be  fit  subjects  for  design. 

Let  the  ornament  cover  the  surface  either  by  a  form  based  on  a  geometric 
figure  or  growing  out  of  itself  by  graceful,  flowing  curves.  Any  arrangement 
that  carries  lines  or  represents  figures  in  the  direction  of  breadth,  should  be 
avoided,  and  the  effect  produced  by  the  folding  of  goods  should  be  made  a 
study.  The  size  of  the  pattern  should  be  regulated  by  the  material  for  which 
it  is  intended,  —  small  ones  for  close,  thick  materials,  as  ginghams  ;  larger 
for  fabrics  of  more  open  texture,  as  muslins,  bareges,  etc.  In  delaines  the 
surface  must  be  largely  covered,  while  in  cotton  prints,  the  designs  can  be 
more  dispersed. 

The  chief  fault  of  patterns,  as  applied  to  fabrics  generally,  is  their  want  of 
simplicity, —  want  of  simple  structure,  want  of  simple  treatment,  want  of  sim- 
plicity of  effect ;  and  together  with  these  we  find  largeness  and  coarseness  of 
parts.  Vitruvius  has  said  that  "  the  perfection  of  all  works  depends  on 
their  fitness  to  answer  the  end  proposed,  and  on  the  principles  resulting  from 
a  consideration  of  nature  itself." 

A  surface  should  not  be  divided  for  the  purpose  of  decoration  into  halves, 
the  proportion  of  i  to  i  being  bad  ;  for  as  proportion  increases  in  subtlety  it 
10 


74 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


also  increases  in  beauty.  The  proportion  of  2  to  i  is  a  little  better,  but  of  3 
to  8  or  5  to  8  is  still  more  pleasing. 

A  principle  of  order  must  prevail  in  every  ornament  or  composition.  Con- 
fusion is  the  result  of  accident,  while  order  results  from  thought  and  care. 
The  orderly  repetition  of  parts  frequently  aids  in  the  production  of  orna- 
mental effects.  If  plants  are  employed  as  subject,  they  must  never  be  treated 
imitatively,  but  be  rendered  into  ornaments  by  being  used  conventionally. 
No  shaded  ornament  can  be  pleasant  when  placed  as  a  decoration  on  a  flat 
surface. 

If  the  pattern  is  to  be  wrought  by  printing,  then  one  class  of  conditions 
must  be  complied  with  ;  if  by  weaving,  then  another  class  calls  for  considera- 
tions. The  requirements  of  manufacture  are  very  numerous,  and  in  some 
cases  very  restrictive.  The  size  of  the  "  repeat,"  the  manner  in  which  color 
can  be  applied,  the  character  of  surface  attainable,  and  many  other  consider- 
ations, must  be  carefully  complied  with  before  a  pattern  can  appear  as  a 
manufactured  article. 

No  matter  how  simple  the  "  repeat  "  that  is  left  with  the  designer,  he  has 
a  large  field  in  which  to  work  ;  but  he  cannot  go  beyond  certain  bounds  if  he 
intends  to  produce  first-class  designs,  In  the  past,  the  most  popular  designs 
have  been  based  upon  conventionalized  flowers  and  foliage,  with  the  abun- 
dant use  of  geometrical  forms. 

The  first  accounts  we  have  of  a  covering  for  the  floor  is  in  the  earlier  times, 
when  sand  was  first  used  ;  then  the  habit  of  applying  reeds  succeeded,  and 
on  the  part  of  the  rich,  sweet-scented  reeds  ;  this  use  of  reeds  was  suc- 
ceeded by  the  employment  of  straw  mats,  formed  of  a  kind  of  grass  ;  then 
by  the  introduction  of  wool  mats  ;  these  in  turn  were  followed  by  carpets  of 
various  kinds,  which  gradually  increased  in  size  until  they  covered  the  whole 
floor.  It  does  n't  seem  strange  that  man  desired  improvements  of  this  kind, 
as  he  had  been  used  to  treading  on  grass,  and  when  brought  into  a  state  of 
civilization  sought  some  covering  for  his  floors  which  would  be  softer  to  the 
tread  and  richer  in  color  than  stones  or  brick. 

The  surface  of  a  carpet  serving  to  support  objects  should  be  quiet  and 
negative,  without  strong  contrast  of  either  form  or  color.  The  leading  forms 
should  be  so  composed  as  to  distribute  the  pattern  over  the  whole  floor,  not 
pronounced  either  in  the  direction  of  length  or  breadth,  all  up  and  down 
treatment  being  erroneous.  The  decorative  forms  must  be  flat,  without 
shadow  or  relief,  whether  derived  direct  from  ornament  or  directly  from  flowers 
or  foliage.  In  color,  the  general  ground  should  be  negative,  low  in  tone,  and 
inclining  to  the  tertiary  hues,  the  leading  forms  of  the  pattern  being  expressed 
by  the  darker  secondaries,  and  the  primary  colors  or  white,  if  used  at  all, 
should  be  used  only  in  small  quantities  to  enhance  the  tertiary  hues,  and  to 
express  the  geometrical  bases  that  rule  the  distribution  of  the  form. 

The  laws  relating  to  harmonies  and  contrasts  of  color  should  be  attended  to. 


Design  Applied  to  Woven  Fabrics, 


75 


PRINCIPLES  OF  DESIGN  AS  APPLIED  TO  WOVEN 
FABRICS.  —  COLORED  MATERIALS. 

CARPETS. 

In  preparing  designs  for  carpets,  we  should  first  consider  the  power  of  the 
carpet-loom. 

The  carpets  best  known  are  the  Brussels.  There  are  cheaper  fabrics, 
such  as  the  Kidderminster,  or  Ingrain,  consisting  of  two  thicknesses  of 
carpeting  imperfectly  united  together,  which  can  have  only  two  colors  in 
any  line  running  through  its  length.  The  best  designs  for  this  carpet  are 
made  simply  of  two  colors,  as  the  introduction  of  another  color  produces 
"lines." 

The  three-ply  is  the  same  kind  of  carpet,  which  has  three  thicknesses  of 
carpeting,  allows  more  colors  to  be  used,  and  avoids  "  lines." 

The  surface  of  Brussels  carpeting  consists  of  loops,  and  it  may  have  five 
or  even  six  colors  running  throughout  its  length.  Thus  whenever  one  color 
is  drawn  to  the  surface,  there  remain  four  or  five  beneath.  It  is  made  upon 
a  linen  foundation,  which  is  concealed  by  the  interlaced  worsted  threads 
that  cover  it. 

Brussels  carpeting  is  sometimes  woven  of  close  texture,  with  the  loops 
cut  through.  This  makes  a  velvet  pile,  or  Wilton  carpet,  which  is  rich- 
looking  and  durable. 

The  real  Axminster  carpets  are  the  best  that  are  made.  As  they  are  formed 
by  the  knotting  of  threads  together  by  hand,  any  number  of  colors  may  be 
used  in  their  formation.  Besides  these  and  other  varieties,  there  are  many 
foreign  carpets,  most  of  which  are  hand-made  and  very  beautiful.  The 
greater  number  of  these  have  a  velvety  surface,  which  is  sometimes  rough 
and  uneven,  but  rarely,  if  ever,  inartistic. 

As  a  carpet  is  a  fabric  to  be  placed  beneath  our  feet,  it  should  possess, 
as  a  first  necessity,  flatness.  It  should  not  only  be  flat,  but  should  have  the 
appearance  of  being  flat,  and  be  decorated  in  the  only  manner  suitable  for 
a  flat  surface.  Its  decoration  should  be  either  flat  ornament,  or  a  design 
handled  flatly.  This  does  not  exclude  flowers,  leaves,  plants,  or  ornamental 
forms,  but  it  requires  that  they  should  be  treated  as  if  without  roundness  ; 


76 


The  Anfefix  Papers. 


that  is  to  say,  without  light  and  shade,  or  perspective  effects.  Each  flower 
petal,  every  plant  leaf  should  be  colored  with  a  flat  wash. 

We  are  taught  that  in  any  branch  of  industrial  art,  work  should  be  good 
and  honest ;  that  there  should  be  nothing  deceptive.  If  a  manufactured 
article  does  not  fulfil  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  made,  and  do  so  thoroughly 
and  well,  its  design  is  faulty.  If  the  ornament  applied  to  any  object  impairs 
its  usefulness,  or  in  any  respect  changes  its  character,  or  destroys  that  sense 
of  repose  and  fitness  that  comes  with  true  ornamental  design,  then  the  orna- 
ment is  ill-fitted  for  its  purpose.  From  this  point  |Df  view  we  can  see  how 
utterly  misplaced  most  of  the  designs  of  our  carpets  are. 

Carpets  are  spread  before  us  to  walk  upon.  If  the  objects  pictured  upon 
them  were  real,  we  should  not  wish  or  even  dare  to  place  our  feet  upon 
them.  In  doing  so  we  should  have  to  walk  ruthlessly  over  delicate  flowers, 
or  to  push  our  way  among  highly-colored  roses  of  most  unnatural  size  ;  or, 
perhaps,  to  balance  ourselves  upon  some  ornamental  bands  of  stone  or  wood 
work  by  which  the  floor  is  regularly  divided  into  compartments  ;  or  to  step 
carefully  over  such  bands  down  upon  soft  flowers ;  or,  perhaps,  on  an 
unusually  costly  carpet,  where  a  portion  of  garden  or  landscape  is  spread 
before  us  to  delight  the  eye  ;  we  should  be  compelled  to  traverse  tree-tops 
leaning  against  the  sky  which  is  seen  between  the  branches. 

We  are  told  that  "  it  requires  no  small  amount  of  art-instruction  and  expe- 
rience to  see  why  the  direct  imitation  of  natural  objects  is  wrong  in  orna- 
mental design.  The  quasi-fidelity  with  which  the  forms  of  a  rose,  a  bunch 
of  ribbons,  or  a  ruined  castle  can  be  reproduced  on  carpets,  crockery,  and 
wall-papers  will  always  possess  a  certain  kind  of  charm  for  the  uneducated 
eye,  just  as  the  mimicry  of  natural  sounds  in  music,  from  the  rolling  of  thun- 
der to  the  cackling  of  poultry,  will  delight  the  vulgar  ear.  Both  are  ingenious, 
amusing,  attractive  for  the  moment,  but  neither  lie  within  the  legitimate 
province  of  art. 

As  a  carpet  is  a  background  for  other  objects  in  a  room,  it  should  so  fulfil 
that  office  that,  while  occupying  a  subordinate  position,  it  should  serve  to 
enhance  the  beauty  of  everything  placed  upon  it,  and  let  nothing  suffer  in 
being  compared  with  it.  "  Composed  of  sombre  shades  and  tones,  and 
treated  essentially  as  a  flat  surface,  it  exerts  a  most  valuable  though  subor- 
dinate influence  upon  all  the  other  objects  in  the  room.  Upon  it  the  eye 
rests  while  surveying  the  more  important  furniture  ;  and  its  presence,  prop- 
erly treated,  supplies  the  necessary  material  for  a  satisfactory  contrast  with 
other  portions  of  the  decoration,  which  proves  how  valuable  it  is  as  contrib- 
uting to  the  pleasing  effect  of  the  whole  apartment. 

"  All  designs  which  have  a  tendency  to  divide  a  flat  surface  into  distinct 
compartments,  or  have  colors  so  distributed  that  they  attract  the  eye  at 
intervals  ;  all  designs  which  cut  sharply  from  the  ground,  and  exhibit  the 
ornamentation  in  strong  contrast  to  that  which  it  is  upon,  or,  by  a  combina- 
tion of  several  tints  of  the  same  color,  appear  to  relieve  the  ornament  from 
its  background,  are  false  in  principle  and  deficient  in  the  simplicity  which 
should  characterize  this  branch  of  decoration.    An  evenness  of  effect  must 


Design  Applied  to  Woven  Fabrics. 


77 


be  the  sme  qua  nojt  of  a  material  which  is  to  cover  a  surface  that,  if  otherwise 
than  flat,  would  not  be  tolerated. 

"As  a  rule,  all  imitations,  in  whatever  material,  of  a  totally  different  surface 
from  that  which  characterizes  the  material  itself,  are  false." 

As  in  art,  a  background  is  not  without  interest,  although  subservient  to 
the  principal  objects  of  the  picture,  so  in  a  carpet  there  maybe  leading  forms 
visible  at  a  distance,  and  details  which  will  become  apparent  upon  a  nearer 
view,  and  others  to  be  seen  only  upon  a  close  inspection  ;  but  the  pattern 
should  seem  evenly  spread  to  produce  a  unity  of  effect  and  prevent  the  eyes 
from  wandering  to  follow  lines  or  forms. 

Large  patterns  should  be  avoided,  because  they  destroy  all  sense  of  repose, 
diminish  the  size  of  the  room,  and  injure  the  effect  of  the  furniture  by  it  in 
a  measure,  dividing  the  attention  with  it.  The  details  of  a  carpet-pattern 
should  be  small,  even  where  the  pattern  is  not. 

As  Brussels  carpeting  is  but  twenty-seven  inches  wide,  and  one  tenth  of  an 
inch  is  allowed  for  each  stitch,  a  pattern  may  be  repeated  three  or  four  times 
in  the  width  ;  or  there  maybe  but  one  pattern,  and  there  may  be  as  fine  detail 
in  the  latter  case  as  in  the  former. 

The  safest  and  best  ground  for  a  carpet  is  black  or  indigo-blue.  The 
prevailing  tint  of  a  carpet  should  contrast  rather  than  repeat  that  of  the  wall. 

A  light  carpet  on  a  floor  prevents  any  harmonious  combination  of  general 
effect. 

The  ornamentation  of  carpets  should  be  what  we  call  an  "  all-over  "  pat- 
tern, radiating  in  more  than  two  directions,  and  thus  covering  the  surface 
without  leading  the  eye  away  from  any  point.  This  rule  applies  to  all  pat- 
terns, simple  or  complicated. 

Let  the  student  take  almost  any  plant,  and  from  its  vertical  stem,  its  leaves 
or  its  flowers,  seen  in  profile,  he  may  obtain  vertical  ornaments  suitable  for 
flat  vertical  surfaces  ;  or,  by  placing  the  eye  above  the  plant  and  looking 
down  upon  it,  he  may  get  a  geometrical  radiating  form  suitable  for  floor 
decoration.  However  the  leaves  may  seem  to  be  dispersed  along  the  side  of 
the  stem,  their  arrangement,  if  the  plant  is  perfect,  being  in  regular  order,  or 
in  whorls  about  the  stem,  will  give  a  radiating  ornament.  The  radiating  form 
may  be  used  also,  for  a  wall  ornament ;  but  the  "  up  and  down  "  or  vertical 
pattern  must  not  be  used  on  the  floor. 

Sir  Charles  Eastlake  says  the  simplest  diapered  grounds  are  the  best. 

Diaper  work  includes  that  class  of  patterns  which  are  either  definitely 
enclosed  by  bounding  lines,  or  at  least  divided  into  compartments  of  a 
uniform  size  throughout.  These  compartments  or  diapers  are  often  of 
a  geometrical  form,  and  in  that  case  may  be  either  round  or  square,  diamond- 
shaped  or  quatre-foiled  in  outline. 

In  a  carpet  there  should  be  no  violent  contrasts  of  light  and  dark,  or  of 
color,  A  distribution  of  colors,  nearly  equal  in  scale  of  light  and  dark, 
should  be  adopted,  secondaries  or  tertiaries  or  neutralized  primaries  being 
used  rather  than  pure  tints,  and  lights  introduced  merely  to  give  expression 
to  the  forms. 


78 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


Neutrality  of  effect  is  of  two  kinds.  It  may  be  produced  by  large  masses 
of  tertiary  or  neutral  colors,  or  by  the  juxtaposition  of  the  primary  colors  in 
small  quantities,  either  alone  or  with  the  secondary  colors  and  black  or  white  ; 
but  there  will  be  a  difference  between  the  two  results  :  for  that  produced  by 
the  low-toned  colors  will  be  simply  neutral,  while  that  produced  by  the  pri- 
mary colors  will  be  "  bloomy "  as  well  as  neutral,  and  if  yellows  and  reds 
slightly  predominate  in  the  intermingling  of  colors,  the  effect  will  be  glowing 
and  radiant.  This  radiant  or  glowing,  bloomy  neutrality  of  effect  is  that 
which  is  most  desirable  in  a  carpet. 

In  considering  designs  suitable  for  colored  goods,  such  as  carpets,  mate- 
rials for  wearing  apparel,  etc.,  we  are  continually  referred  to  those  of  India 
and  Turkey  as  the  most  perfect  in  arrangement  and  general  tone  and  har- 
mony of  color,  as  well  as  for  their  flat  treatment  and  geometrical  distri- 
bution of  form.  Their  effect  seems  to  be  the  result  of  science,  as  it  has  never 
changed  from  the  earliest  known  times,  and  has  always  followed  certain 
fixed  laws. 

The  use  of  colors  of  a  negative  character  is  the  secret  reason  why  Turkey 
carpets  are  so  satisfactory  to  the  refined  taste,  and  it  is  the  conventionality 
of  Indian  goods  that  causes  them  to  be  deservedly  popular  without  the 
reason  for  this  liking  being  always  known.  Chinese  ornament,  which  en- 
deavors as  nearly  as  possible  to  imitate  nature,  has  never  been  accepted  by 
ornamentatists  as  anything  but  rude  and  barbarous,  except  where  local 
tradition  has  preserved  a  style  of  decoration  that  has  been  either  excellent  in 
its  simplicity  or  associated  with  some  valuable  scientific  process  of  manu- 
facture. 

Eastern  carpets  teach  us  that  bright  colors  are  not  necessarily  rich  or  beau- 
tiful, but  that  tone  is  a  great  source  of  richness,  and  that  it  has  the  further 
merit  of  keeping  carpets  in  their  true  place  in  the  scale  of  furniture. 

GARMENT  FABRICS. 

Over-ornamentation  is  the  great  source  of  error  in  designs  for  garment 
fabrics,  for  it  causes  the  ornament  to  stand  out  from  the  ground,  and  thus 
attracts  undue  attention  to  itself.  This  may  arise  from  the  ornaments 
being  too  large  for  the  fabric,  or  from  too  decided  contrasts  of  color  or  of 
light  and  dark,  or  from  its  being  overcharged  with  color.  These  causes 
vary,  however,  for  different  materials. 

Woven  patterns  in  satin  and  tabby  of  self-color,  will  allow  of  much  larger 
figures  than  where  more  colors  are  used,  either  in  woven  or  printed  goods. 
Designs  for  dress  fabrics  are  much  better  in  small  than  in  large  forms. 
These  should  be  treated  flatly,  without  light  and  shade,  and  tending  to  sub- 
dued contrasts  of  color  and  of  light  and  dark. 

A  geometrical  rather  than  a  dispersed  arrangement  of  the  forms  is  the 
most  satisfying  to  the  eye,  and  the  most  in  accordance  with  sound  principles, 
some  of  the  best  patterns  being  formed  of  diapering  sprigs,  leaves,  flowers,  or 
often  even  of  simple  geometrical  forms  regularly  repeated  over  the  ground. 

The  fabrics  of  the  East  India  Company  are  designed  on  the  principles 


Design  Applied  to  Woven  Fabrics. 


79 


supposed  to  be  just.  The  ornament  is  always  flat  and  without  shadow ; 
natural  flowers  are  never  used  imitatively  or  perspectively,  but  are  conven- 
tionalized by  being  displayed  flatly  and  according  to  a  symmetrical  arrange- 
ment ;  and  all  other  objects,  even  animals  and  birds,  where  used  as  ornament, 
are  reduced  to  their  simplest  flat  forms.  When  color  is  added,  it  is  usually 
rendered  by  the  simple  local  hue,  often  bordered  with  a  darker  shade  of  the 
color  to  give  it  expression,  but  the  colors  of  the  flower  are  rarely  intro- 
duced. 

In  considering  the  details  of  the  Indian  patterns  and  searching  for  the 
causes  of  their  rich  and  pleasing  effect,  they  have  often  been  considered  poor, 
ill-drawn,  and  common-place.  It  is  the  knowledge  of  the  designer,  the  just 
appreciation  of  what  is  exactly  fitted  to  each  peculiar  fabric,  the  delicacy  with 
which  he  has  made  his  selection  of  the  amount  of  ground  to  be  left  free  from 
ornament,  and  the  choice  of  the  tints  for  the  ground  and  for  the  ornamental 
forms  that  has  made  these  fabrics  so  pre-eminent  that  we  may  derive  rules 
from  them  to  govern  us  in  preparing  designs  for  all  garment  fabrics. 

In  the  adaptation  of  these  designs  to  different  kinds  of  materials,  such  an 
appreciation  is  shown  of  the  effect  which  wiH  be  produced  upon  them  by 
motion,  when  the  garments  are  worn,  that  no  draught  of  the  design  can  show 
us  the  beautiful  results  of  the  manufactured  article. 

As  simplicity  is  one  of  the  first  constituents  of  beauty,  we  often  find  the 
simplest  patterns  the  most  beautiful ;  and  where  printing  or  weaving  in  one 
color  is  in  good  taste,  every  added  difficulty  in  printing  or  weaving  more 
colors  will  take  so  much  from  the  original  beauty  of  the  design. 

We  wish  to  obtain  in  the  garment  what  a  painter  calls  "breadth,"  or 
"repose,"  and  this  can  only  be  attained  by  great  simplicity,  by  flat  or  diapered 
treatment  of  small  forms,  by  uncontrasted  light  and  dark,  and  by  delicate  tints 
of  color. 

Whilst "  up  and  down "  treatment  in  stripes  and  trails  is  good,  the  hori- 
zontal direction  of  pronounced  forms  is  bad,  since  in  crossing  the  person  the 
pattern  conflicts  with  all  the  motions  of  the  human  figure,  as  well  as  with  the 
forms  of  the  long  folds  in  the  skirts  of  the  garment.  For  this  reason  large 
and  pronounced  checks  are  to  be  avoided  ;  they  interfere  with  the  graceful 
arrangement  of  any  material  as  drapery. 

HANGINGS   AND  CURTAINS. 

The  ornamentation  of  textile  hangings  is  subject  to  the  same  general  laws 
which  govern  other  forms  of  wall  decoration.  Flatness  of  treatment  and 
subdued  contrasts  of  color  are  the  only  safe  guides. 

The  richest  and  most  sober  effects  in  silk  are  produced  simply  by  the  pro- 
cess of  weaving,  as  the  satin  figure  on  the  plain  tabby  ground  in  a  self-color. 
With  the  slightest  attention  to  the  design,  a  good  effect  is  produced,  and  the 
splendor  of  the  material  is  well  displayed.  The  same  effect,  that  is  the  con- 
trast of  the  pattern  with  the  ground,  can  be  produced  in  the  weaving  together 
of  other  mixed  materials. 

By  such  methods  the  ornament  produced  is  necessarily  flat,  and  the  gen- 


8o 


The  A^iteflx  Papers . 


eral  effect  is  not  disturbed.  A  good  effect  may  be  obtained  by  the  judicious 
use  of  two  or  more  colors,  either  according  to  the  ancient  method  of  har- 
mony, separated  from  each  other  by  bands  of  black,  white,  or  gold,  or  con- 
trasted and  enhanced  by  their  complementaries,  enriched  by  gold.  The  com- 
bination of  many  colors  results  only  in  poverty  and  meanness. 

Where  colors  are  used,  the  pattern  must  be  smaller  than  where  the  design 
is  woven  into  material  of  only  one  color.  Some  hangings  decorated  with 
vertical  ornaments  from  the  Alhambra  are  in  good  taste. 

Hangings  of  rich  cloth  of  gold  brocade  are  sometimes  ornamented  with 
flowers  rendered  imitatively.  Shaded,  colored  flowers  vulgarize  and  destroy 
the  richness  of  effect  sought  for  in  such  materials  ;  whereas  a  diaper  design, 
or  a  different  texture  produced  by  weaving,  or  a  mingling  of  silver  thread 
with  the  gold,  gives  all  that  can  be  desired. 

We  read  of  a  hanging  decorated  with  flowers  on  an  ash-colored  lilac 
ground  which,  although  displaying  great  ability  in  the  designer,  and  equal 
skill  in  the  weaver,  did  not  compare  in  apparent  richness  with  a  plain  mul- 
berry-colored hanging,  ornamented  flatly  in  tabby  and  satin  placed  beside  it. 
Had  these  flowers  been  treated  flatly,  arranged  geometrically,  and  colored  in 
simple  flat  tints,  they  would  have  been  more  suitable  for  and  more  truly  orna- 
mental to  hangings. 

In  Gobelin  tapestries,  we  find  landscapes,  figures,  fruits,  and  flowers. 
Such  copies  of  pictures  are  necessarily  inferior  in  such  materials  to  the 
pictures  they  represent  It  is  easily  seen  that  it  is  an  error  to  place  figures 
and  trees  where  a  gust  of  wind  would  remove  them,  or  a  fold  divide  them  in 
two.  The  interest  felt  in  these  tapestries,  is  chiefly  that  which  clings  to  any- 
thing which  has  been  cherished  and  admired  in  the  past,  and  their  associa- 
tion with  royalty  and  great  names. 

Early  in  this  century,  window  curtains  were  only  made  of  silk  or  damask. 
The  material  known  as  "  rep "  was  next  introduced.  This  was  in  many 
respects  superior.  The  Germans  have  invented  a  still  better  material  known 
in  the  shops  as  "  cotelan."  This  is  often  worked  in  diaper  patterns  of  excel- 
lent design.  It  is  one  of  the  most  artistic  kinds  of  modern  textile  fabric. 
The  French  have  given  us  a  heavy  ribbed  material  decorated  with  broad 
bands  or  stripes  of  color  running  transversely  to  its  length,  like  the  pattern 
of  a  Roman  scarf.  Of  late  years  this  has  been  much  used,  especially  by 
artists. 

There  is  a  striped  damask,  whose  stripes  run  parallel  to  the  length  of  the 
curtain,  which  increases  the  apparent  height  of  the  room.  A  curtain  in  folds 
is  better  with  horizontal  stripes,  as  vertical  stripes  create  confusion. 

Under  the  subject  of  hangings  we  may  also  consider  chintzes.  This 
material  being  essentially  a  summer  fabric,  any  decoration  tending  to  a  sense 
of  warmth  is  out  of  place.  Thus  there  should  be  no  richness  of  color.  Cool, 
fresh  grounds,  covered  with  flat,  ornamental  forms,  either  in  "  all-over  "  or 
"  up  and  down  "  arrangement,  or  a  diapered  floral  treatment  on  a  simple, 
plain  ground,  are  the  most  suitable  designs  for  chintzes. 


Design  Applied  to  Woven  Fabrics. 


8i 


LACE. 

In  considering  the  ornamentation  most  suitable  for  lace,  its  texture,  light- 
ness, and  filminess  should  not  be  overlooked.  All  designs  should  be  light, 
elegant,  and  flowing.  Graceful  forms  should  mark  its  ornamentation,  and 
straight  lines  should  be  avoided.  At  the  same  time,  care  should  be  taken 
that  these  lines  be  not  so  light  as  to  render  the  lace  flimsy,  and  thus,  where 
lace  is  used  as  a  trimming,  deprive  the  line,  which  should  be  enriched  with 
ornament,  of  its  proper  expression. 

The  old  point  lace,  worked  with  a  needle,  was  often  too  heavy  in  charac- 
ter, wanting  less  crowded  spots  to  give  relief  to  the  design,  whereas  in  modern 
times  the  manufacturer  has  run  into  the  other  extreme,  by  covering  much 
space  with  little  labor. 

The  edge  or  border  constitutes  true  lace.  This  should  be  decidedly 
rich  in  ornament.  In  wide  pieces  of  lace  and  veils  there  should  spring  from 
the  border  graceful  curved  forms,  gradually  disappearing  in  diapered  sprigs 
or  ornamental  forms  to  cover  the  remaining  surface.  The  natural  lines  of 
the  growth  of  plants,  arranged  according  to  some  symmetrical  order,  may 
be  adopted. 

Exact  imitations  of  flowers  are  to  be  avoided,  floral  forms  being  followed. 
The  petals  and  leaves  should  rarely  be  filled  in  solidly.  Stitches  of  varied 
forms  should  be  introduced,  giving  a  diaper  texture,  and  thus  adding  to  the 
lightness  and  richness  of  the  material. 

The  designs  for  lace  curtains  should  be  such  as  not  to  be  too  much  hidden 
in  the  folds.  There  should  be  no  irregular  scrolls  or  bouquets  of  flowers. 
The  best  designs  give  us  a  border  of  some  plant  of  graceful  foliage  and 
characteristic  outline,  the  body  of  the  curtain  being  powdered  over  with 
details  of  the  plant  used,  arranged  in  geometric  forms.  The  symmetrical 
snow-flake  gives  a  light,  geometric  form,  which,  when  so  placed,  is  pleasingly 
suggestive.  There  should  be  no  attempt  at  shading  forms.  It  is  also  evi- 
dent that  designs  which  very  much  cover  the  surface  and  destroy  the  trans- 
parency, are  not  adapted  for  a  texture  requiring  clearness  or  semi-transpar- 
ency as  its  chief  quality. 

HAND-MADE  LACE. 

Lace  is  made  of  flax,  cotton,  and  mohair,  and  of  silk,  gold,  and  silver.  It 
is  said  to  have  originated  from  the  open-work  embroidery  which  came  into 
use  in  the  sixteenth  century.  This  was  made  by  pulling  out  certain  threads 
in  regular  order,  and  stitching  the  remaining  threads  together.  They  were 
worked  in  button-hole  stitch,  in  various  geometrical  patterns,  the  super- 
fluous cloth  being  cut  away.  This  was  termed  "  cut-work."  There  was  also 
a  kind  of  darned  netting.  In  making  this  a  net-work  was  arranged,  either  in 
squares  or  in  lines  radiating  from  a  centre,  upon  a  frame.  Upon  this  netting 
patterns  were  wrought  with  a  needle.  This  same  method  has  been  revived 
at  the  present  day. 

Lace  consists  of  two  parts,  —  the  ground  and  flower,  pattern  or  "gimp." 
II 


82 


The  Afttefix  Papers. 


The  flower  or  ornamental  pattern  is  either  made  together  with  the  ground,  as 
in  Valenciennes  or  Mechlin,  or  separately,  and  then  either  worked  in  or  sewn 
on,  "applique." 

Some  laces  are  not  worked  on  a  ground.  The  flowers  are  connected  by- 
irregular  threads,  overcast  (with  button-hole  stitch),  and  sometimes  worked 
over  with  pearl  loops  (picot)  such  as  the  points  of  Venice  and  Spain,  and 
most  of  the  guipures. 

All  lace  is  terminated  by  two  edges,  — the  pearl  or  picot,  a  row  of  little 
points  at  equal  distances,  and  the  footing,  a  narrow  lace  which  serves  to 
keep  the  ground  firm  and  to  sew  the  lace  to  any  garment. 

Lace  is  divided  into  point  and  pillow.  The  first  is  made  by  the  needle,  on 
a  parchment  pattern,  and  termed  "needle-point."  Point  also  means  a  par- 
ticular kind  of  stitch,  as  "  Venice  point,"  "  Brussels  point."  The  following 
is  the  manner  of  making  pillow  lace  :  The  pillow  is  a  round  or  oval  board, 
stuffed  so  as  to  form  a  cushion,  to  be  placed  on  the  knees  of  the  work- 
woman. On  this  pillow  a  stiff"  piece  of  parchment  is  fixed,  in  which  small 
holes  are  pricked  to  mark  the  pattern,  and  through  these  holes  pins  are  stuck 
into  the  cushion.  The  threads  with  which  the  lace  is  formed  are  wound 
upon  "bobbins,"  —  formerly  bones,  now  small  pieces  of  wood  about  the  size 
of  a  pencil,  —  having  a  deep  groove  round  their  upper  ends,  so  formed  as  to 
reduce  the  bobbin  to  a  thin  neck,  a  separate  bobbin  being  used  for  each 
thread.  By  the  twisting  and  crossing  of  these  threads  the  ground  of  the  lace 
is  formed.  The  pattern  or  figure  called  "gimp"  is  made  by  interweaving  a 
thread  much  thicker  than  that  forming  the  ground-work,  according  to  the  design 
pricked  out  on  the  parchment.  This  has  been  the  method  of  using  the  pillow, 
with  slight  variations,  for  three  centuries. 

The  Italians  claim  the  invention  of  point  or  needle-made  lace.  They 
probably  derived  it  from  the  Greeks  of  the  Lower  Empire  who  took  refuge 
in  Italy.  Its  Byzantine  origin  is  further  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  those 
places  which  kept  up  the  closest  intercourse  with  the  Greek  Empire  are  the 
cities  where  point  lace  was  first  made  and  most  flourished. 

A  modern  Italian  author  asserts  that  the  Italians  learned  embroidery  from 
the  Saracens  of  Sicily,  as  the  Spaniards  acquired  the  art  from  the  Moors  of 
Seville  or  Grenada.  As  proof  of  his  theory,  he  states  that  the  word  "  to  em- 
broider," both  in  Italian  and  Spanish,  is  derived  from  the  Arabic,  and  that  no 
similar  word  exists  in  any  other  European  language. 

Evidences  of  lace  fabrication  appear  in  Italy  as  early  as  the  fifteenth  century. 
Lace  appears  on  garments  in  pictures  of  that  date. 

Lace  was  made  throughout  Italy  by  nuns  and  for  the  service  of  the  church. 
Venice  was  celebrated  for  her  point,  while  Genoa  produced  almost  exclu- 
sively pillow  lace!  These  laces,  with  the  addition  of  Milan  lace,  were  those 
best  known  in  the  commercial  world  in  the  earlier  periods. 

The  earliest  points  soon  passed  from  the  stiff"  Gothic  forms  into  the  flow- 
ing lines  of  the  Renaissance,  and  into  that  fine,  patternless  guipure  called 
Venice  point. 

One  fine  Venice  lace,  the  richest  and  most  complicated  of  all  points,  is 


Design  Applied  to  Woven  Fabrics. 


83 


made  on  a  parchment  pattern,  with  all  the  outlines  in  relief,  formed  by  means 
of  cottons  placed  inside  to  raise  them.  Sometimes  they  are  in  double  and 
triple  relief;  an  infinity  of  beautiful  stitches  are  introduced  into  the  flowers, 
which  are  surrounded  by  pearls  of  geometric  regularity,  the  pearls  being 
sometimes  in  scallops.  This  is  the  Rose  (raised)  Venice  point  so  highly 
prized  and  so  extensively  used  for  albs,  collarettes,  berthas,  and  costly  decora- 
tions. 

These  Venice  points  are  said  to  be  such  fine  and  wonderful  works  of  the 
needle  that  they  baffle  all  description,  and  are  endless  in  variety.  The  only 
rehc  remaining  of  Venice  point  is  a  coarse,  cheap  lace  offered  to  travellers 
by  the  peasant  women. 

The  term  "  guipure  "  is  now  so  variously  applied  that  it  is  impossible  to  limit 
its  meaning  ;  the  modern  Honiton  and  the  Maltese  lace  are  called  guipure, 
as  well  as  the  imitations  of  the  latter.  The  Italians  called  the  old  raised  points 
of  Venice  and  Spain  guipures.  The  finest  thread  guipures  were  the  produce 
of  Flanders  and  Italy,  although  when  this  term  was  first  applied  to  thread 
guipures  is  uncertain ;  but  silk  twisted  round  thick  thread  or  cord  was 
originally  called  guipure,  and  from  this  the  work  is  said  to  have  derived  its 
name.  In  early  times,  such  lace  was  made  of  silk,  gold,  or  silver,  with  the 
needle,  or  on  a  pillow  like  other  laces,  and  was  very  costly. 

In  early  times  the  Genoese  made  much  gold  lace.  This  consisted  of  pure 
gold  mixed  with  Spanish  "laton,"  producing  a  false  gold  such  as  is  now  used 
for  theatrical  purposes.  They  also  made  gold  and  silver  lace  out  of  drawn 
wire,  such  as  has  been  lately  found  at  Herculaneum. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  the  Genoa  point  came  into  general  use  through- 
out Europe.  These  Genoa  points,  so  highly  prized,  were  all  the  work  of 
the  pillow. 

Lace  manufacture  extends  along  the  sea-coast  of  Northern  Italy.  The 
workers  are  mostly  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the  coral-fishers,  who  support 
themselves  by  this  occupation  during  the  long  and  perilous  voyages  of  their 
husbands.  In  the  year  1850  the  lace-workers  in  this  part  of  Italy  began 
to  make  guipures  for  France,  and  these  now  form  their  chief  produce.  The 
exportation  is  very  great,  and  lace-making  is  the  dailv  occupation  not  only 
of  the  women,  but  of  the  ladies  of  the  commune. 

MALTA  LACE. 

The  lace  once  made  in  Malta  was  a  coarse  kind  of  Mechlin  or  Valenciennes 
of  the  arabesque  pattern.  In  1833  Lady  Hamilton  Chichester  induced  a 
woman  named  Ciglia  to  copy  an  old  Greek  lace  coverlet  in  white.  The 
Ciglia  family  from  that  time  commenced  the  manufacture  of  black  and  white 
Maltese  guipure,  until  then  unknown  in  that  island. 

Malta  lace  is  also  made  in  the  Madeira  Islands  by  seven  families.  It  is 
made  almost  entirely  by  men  ;  the  women  occupy  themselves  in  the  open- 
work embroidery  of  muslin  and  cambric. 

Spanish  point  in  its  day  was  as  celebrated  as  that  of  Flanders  and  Italy. 
Tradition  declares  that  Spain  learned  the  art  from  Italy,  whence  she  com- 


84 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


municated  it  to  Flanders,  which  in  return  taught  Spain  to  make  pillow  lace. 
Others  give  it  a  Moorish  origin. 

Spain  was  early  celebrated  for  its  silk  laces,  which,  with  its  colored  em- 
broidered laces,  and  its  gold  and  silver  points,  have  always  enjoyed  a  certain 
reputation.  The  national  mantilla  is  the  principal  manufacture  of  the  pres- 
ent time  ;  this  is  made  in  both  white  and  black  lace.  Spanish  silk  laces  do 
not  equal  in  workmanship  those  of  Bayeux  and  Chantilly  either  in  firmness 
of  ground  or  regularity  of  pattern. 

The  manufacture  of  blonde  lace  is  almost  confined  to  Catalonia.  It  is  made 
in  the  villages  on  the  sea-coast,  especially  in  Barcelona.  It  gives  employment 
to  thirty-four  thousand  people.  There  are  no  large  manufactories  :  it  is  in 
the  hands  of  women  and  children,  who  make  it  on  their  own  account  and  as 
they  please. 

Lace-making  is  a  great  source  of  wealth  to  Belgium,  some  of  its  old  cities 
being  supported  by  female  industry.  One  fortieth  of  the  whole  population, 
1 50,000  women,  are  thus  employed.  The  majority  of  these  work  at  home. 
The  trade  is  now  as  flourishing  as  it  was  in  the  most  palmy  days  of  the  Neth- 
erlands. 

The  lace  manufacture  of  the  Netherlands  has  a  glorious  past.  After  caus- 
ing jealousy  in  every  other  European  nation  in  the  sixteenth  century,  when 
every  other  industrial  art  disappeared  in  the  midst  of  the  horrors  of  a  reli- 
gious persecution,  this  fabric  alone  maintained  itself,  and  through  its  pros- 
perity saved  Flanders  from  ruin. 

In  Belgium,  lace-making  plays  a  prominent  part  in  the  education  of  chil- 
d  ren.    Charles  V  commanded  it  to  be  taught  in  schools  and  convents. 

BRUSSELS  LACE. 

The  manufacture  of  Brussels  lace  is  supposed  to  have  commenced  at  the 
beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century.  It  is  falsely  called  Knglish  point.  This 
name  was  applied  to  it  in  1662.  At  that  time  the  English  Parliament  forbade 
all  importation  of  foreign  lace  ;  and  the  merchants,  after  bringing  Flemish 
workmen  to  England,  finding  it  impossible  to  provide  the  necessary  flax, 
resorted  to  the  expedient  of  buying  the  choicest  laces  of  the  Brussels  market, 
which  they  smuggled  Sito  England  and  sold  as  "  English  Point." 

The  finest  Brussels  lace  can  only  be  made  in  the  city  itself.  Other  locali- 
ties have  tried  in  vain  to  compete  with  the  capital.  The  thread  used  in 
Brussels  lace  is  of  most  extraordinary  fineness.  It  is  grown  in  Brabant  at 
Hal  and  Rebecq-Rognon.  The  finest  quality  is  spun  in  underground  rooms, 
as  contact  with  the  dry  air  causes  it  to  break.  It  is  so  fine  as  to  be  almost 
invisible.  The  "  feel  "  of  the  thread  as  it  passes  through  the  fingers  is  the 
surest  guide. 

The  thread-spinner  closely  examines  every  inch  drawn  from  her  distaff,  and 
when  any  inequality  occurs,  repairs  the  mischief.  Every  artificial  help  is 
given  to  the  eye.  A  background  of  dark  paper  is  placed  to  throw  out  the 
thread,  and  the  room  is  so  arranged  as  to  admit  one  single  ray  of  light  upon 
her  work.    It  is  the  fineness  of  the  thread  which  renders  the  real  Brussels 


Design  Applied  to  Woven  Fabrics. 


85 


ground  so  costly.  The  difficulty  of  procuring  this  thread,  at  any  cost,  has 
prevented  this  art  from  becoming  estabhshed  in  other  countries.  The  ground 
of  Brussels  lace  is  made  in  two  ways,  by  the  needle  and  the  pillow.  The 
needle-ground  is  superior  to  the  pillow-made.  It  is  worked  in  small  strips 
of  an  inch  in  width,  joined  together  by  a  stitch  long  known  to  the  lace- 
makers  of  Brussels  and  Alen^on  only.  Since  machine-made  net  has  come 
into  use,  this  needle-ground  is  rarely  made. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  flowers,  —  those  made  with  the  needle,  called  pomt 
a  V  aiguille,  those  on  the  pillow,  point  plat.  The  best  flowers  are  made 
in  Brussels  itself,  where  they  have  attained  a  perfection  unapproached  by 
those  made  in  the  villages  and  Hainault. 

In  the  old  laces,  the  plat  flowers  were  worked  in  together  with  the  ground, 
application  lace  being  formerly  unknown. 

In  making  Brussels  lace,  each  part  is  assigned  to  a  different  person.  The 
worker  has  a  piece  of  parchment  given  her,  on  which  the  pattern  is  pricked 
out ;  she  only  knows  of  the  portion  she  is  to  make.  The  whole  responsi- 
bility rests  with  the  master  ;  he  alone  knows  the  effect  to  be  produced  ;  he 
selects  the  ground  and  chooses  the  thread  and  cuts  up  the  pattern  for  the 
different  workwomen. 

The  pattern  of  Brussels  lace  has  always  followed  the  fashions  of  the  day. 
The  most  ancient  is  the  Gothic  style,  composed  of  architectural  orna- 
ments resembling  patterns  cut  out  in  paper.  This  style  was  replaced  by  the 
flowing  lines  which  prevailed  until  the  Revolution  of  1789.  In  its  turn  fol- 
lowed the  flowery  style  of  the  First  Empire,  —  an  assemblage  of  flowers, 
sprigs,  columns,  wreaths,  and  small  patterns,  such  as  spots,  crosses,  etc.  In 
flowers,  the  palm  and  pyramidal  forms  predominated.  Under  the  Restora- 
tion, the  flowery  style  remained  unchanged,  the  palms  and  pyramids  becoming 
more  rare.  Since  1830  great  and  rapid  changes  have  taken  place  in  the  pat- 
terns.   Every  year  they  become  more  true  to  "nature  and  more  artistic. 

MECHLIN  LACE. 

Mechlin  is  one  of  the  prettiest  of  laces, — fine,  transparent,  and  effective. 
It  is  made  in  one  piece,  on  the  pillow,  with  various  fancy  stitches  introduced. 
Its  distinguishing  feature  is  the  flat  thread,  which  forms  the  flower  and  gives 
to  this  lace  the  character  of  embroidery.  This  manufacture  had  died  out 
and  been  replaced  by  other  laces.  In  1699,  when  the  English  prohibition  was 
romoved,  Mechlin  lace  became  the  great  fashion  of  the  day,  and  continued  so 
for  a  century. 

VALENCIENNES  LACE. 

The  manufacture  of  Valenciennes,  having  expired  in  its  own  native  city, 
has  become  one  of  the  most  important  branches  of  the  pillow- lace  trade  in 
East  and  West  Flanders. 

The  productions  of  Ypres  are  of  the  finest  quality  and  of  the  most  elabo- 
rate workmanship.  On  a  piece  not  two  inches  wide,  from  two  hundred  to  three 
hundred  bobbins  are  employed,  and  for  the  larger  widths  as  many  as  eight 
hundred,  or  more,  are  used  on  the  same  pillow.    The  ground  is  in  large, 


86 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


clear  squares,  which  throws  up  the  even  tissue  of  the  pattern.  Until  1833 
there  was  little  variety  in  the  patterns,  when  a  clear,  wire  ground  was  intro- 
duced, with  bold,  flowing  designs. 

The  Valenciennes  of  Bruges  has  never  been  so  highly  valued  as  those  of 
Ypres  and  Alost ;  for  while  in  making  the  former  the  bobbins  are  only  twisted 
twice,  in  the  latter  two  the  twisting  is  repeated  four  or  five  times.  The 
oftener  the  bobbins  are  twisted  the  more  the  Valenciennes  is  esteemed. 

The  original  Valenciennes  lace  was  made  in  underground  cellars,  where 
the  lace -makers  worked  from  four  in  the  morning  until  eight  at  night.  This 
work  was  generally  done  by  young  girls,  many  of  the  women  becoming 
almost  blind  before  reaching  the  age  of  thirty. 

Under  the  impulse  of  fashion  and  luxury,  lace  receives  the  stamp  of  the 
special  style  of  each  country.  Italy  furnishes  its  points  of  Venice  and  Genoa  ; 
the  Netherlands  its  Brussels,  its  Mechlin,  and  Valenciennes  ;  Spain  its  silk 
blondes ;  England  its  Honiton ;  France  its  costly  point  d'  Alen9on,  its 
white  blondes  of  Caen,  and  its  black  lace  of  Chantilly.  Now  each  style  is 
copied  by  every  nation,  but  France  is  unrivalled  in  her  points  d'  Alen(^on," 
her  white  blonde,  and  her  black  silk  laces.  The  Alen^on  point  is  the  only 
French  lace  not  made  on  a  pillow.  The  invention  of  this  lace  was  occasioned 
by  the  efforts  of  Colbert  to  introduce  Venice  point  into  France.  In  the  time 
of  Louis  XIV  the  fashion  of  wearing  costly  laces  had  reached  the  most 
extravagant  bounds.  Gentlemen  wore  point-lace  ruffles  at  their  boot-tops, 
which  were  sometimes  filled  with  a  number  of  rows  of  lace.  Cinq-Mars,  the 
favorite,  left  at  his  death  three  hundred  pairs  of  lace-ruffled  boots.  The 
garter  above  these  boots  consisted  of  a  scarf  worn  around  the  knee,  having 
the  ends  adorned  with  lace.  A  large  rosette  of  lace  on  the  foot  completed 
the  costume. 

The  Government  vainly  endeavored,  by  sumptuary  laws,  to  restrain  the 
extravagance  of  the  people.  Prohibitions  of  importations  did  not  fully  avail . 
the  people  were  unwilling  to  give  up  their  exquisite  points  for  the  coarse 
laces  of  France.  Under  these  circumstances,  Colbert  proposed  introducing 
the  manufacture  of  costly  lace  into  France,  so  that  the  money  expended 
on  this  luxury  might  not  impoverish  the  country.  A  Madame  Gilbert,  of 
Alen(^on,  with  thirty  workwomen  from  Venice,  was  engaged  to  carry  on  the 
enterprise.  Madame  Gilbert,  with  her  Italian  assistants,  finding  it  difficult  or 
impossible  to  teach  the  people  to  imitate  the  true  Venetian  stitches,  invented 
a  new  lace  ;  and  by  giving  out  to  the  workwomen  different  portions  to  make, 
and  afterwards  joining  them  together,  she  succeeded  in  making  the  most 
elaborate  point  ever  produced. 

Point  d'  Alen^on  is  made  entirely  by  hand,  with  a ^ fine  needle,  in  por- 
tions, upon  a  parchment  pattern,  afterwards  united  by  invisible  seams.  As 
each  part  is  executed  by  a  special  workwoman,  it  requires  twelve  persons  to 
complete  a  piece  of  lace.  This  lace  was  nearly  extinct  when  Napoleon 
caused  it  to  be  restored.  Alen9on  again  fell  with  the  Empire  ;  after  many 
attempts,  it  was  restored  under  the  last  Empire,  and  is  now  in  the  highest 
favor.    The  earlier  patterns  of  the  eighteenth  century  are  flowery  and  undu- 


Design  Applied  to  Woven  Fabrics. 


87 


lating.  In  the  time  of  Louis  XV  a  change  came  over  lace,  as  over  the  archi- 
tecture and  home  decoration ;  the  patterns  became  more  rigid  and  angular, 
and  almost  conventional  in  form.  With  Louis  XVI  the  ground  of  lace  was 
covered  with  little  bouquets  and  spots,  which  towards  the  end  of  the  century 
were  given  up, 

The  Alen9on  was  never  equal  to  the  Brussels  in  its  designs  ;  they  were 
seldom  copied  from  nature,  while  the  fabric  of  Brabant  was  decorated  with 
accurate  copies  of  roses  and  other  flowers.  There  has  been  a  great  improve- 
ment in  the  Alen9on.  The  present  patterns  are  copies  of  flowers,  inter- 
mixed with  grasses  and  ferns. 

In  Normandy  both  white  and  black  laces  are  made,  but  the  black  lace  is 
chief  in  importance.  The  prosperity  of  Calvados,  where,  in  1851,  about 
50,000  persons  were  employed  in  making  lace,  is  due  to  the  invention  of  a 
stitch,  the  "  point  de  Raccroc,"  by  which  the  pieces  of  lace  worked  in  differ- 
ent segments  are  united.  Thus  shawls,  flounces,  and  large  pieces  are  made 
in  small  sections  and  then  joined  together.  Black  lace  is  usually  made  in 
winter,  white  in  summer. 

The  lace  manufacture  of  Auvergne,  of  which  Le  Puy  is  the  centre,  is  the 
most  ancient  and  considerable  of  France.  There  are  nearly  130.000  women 
employed  in  this  work.  Excepting  at  the  time  of  the  French  Revolution, 
this  trade  has  been  always  prosperous.  Le  Puy  produces  every  kind  of  lace, 
—  white  and  colored,  silk,  thread,  and  worsted,  blonde  of  all  kinds,  and 
black  of  the  finest  grounds  ;  her  productions  range  from  gold  and  silver  lace 
to  the  cheapest  edgings. 

Lace-making  was  introduced  into  Devonshire,  England,  by  some  Flemings, 
refugees  from  the  persecutions  of  the  Duke  of  Alva.  Honiton  lace,  so  called 
from  the  town  of  Honiton,  preserved  its  Flemish  character. 

HONITON  LACE. 

The  peculiarity  of  Honiton  lace  is  its  being  made  in  sprigs,  which  have 
been  scarcely  surpassed  by  the  lace-makers  of  Brabant ;  they  are  made 
separately.  At  first  they  v/ere  worked  in  with  the  pillow,  but  afterwards 
appliques^  or  sewn  in  on  the  ground  ;  of  late  years,  sprigs,  when  made,  are 
sewn  on  paper,  and  joined  either  on  the  pillow  by  purlings,  or  by  the  needle 
in  various  stitches,  or  by  purlings  made  by  the  yard. 

From  a  falling  off  in  its  patterns,  Honiton  lace  has  fallen  into  disuse.  At 
the  Exhibition  of  1862,  the  Honiton  lace,  though  exquisite  in  workmanship, 
could  ill  bear  comparison  with  the  Brussels. 

Within  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  the  taste  for  lace  has  revived  ;  and 
although  many  may  condemn  its  use  as  extravagant,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  its  manufacture  furnishes  employment  to  thousands  of  women  who 
would  otherwise  be  forced  to  leave  their  homes  to  toil  for  a  livelihood  in  no 
less  laborious,  no  more  remunerative,  and  far  less  refining  occupations. 


88 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


MACHINE-MADE  LACE. 

The  manufacture  of  lace  has  its  epochs,  —  1768,  net  first  made  by  machin- 
ery; 1809,  invention  of  bobbin-net;  1837,  the  Jacquard  system  applied  to 
the  bobbin  net  machine. 

Barbara  Uttmann  made  a  plain  thread  net,  in  Germany,  three  centuries 
before  any  attempt  was  made  to  produce  it  by  machinery. 

The  invention  of  machinery  for  lace-making  is  usually  assigned  to  Ham- 
mond, a  stocking-frame  knitter  of  Nottingham,  who,  examining  one  day  the 
broad  lace  on  his  wife's  cap,  thought  he  could  apply  his  machine  to  the  pro- 
duction of  a  similar  article.  He  so  far  succeeded  that  by  use  of  the  stocking- 
frame,  invented  in  the  previous  century,  he  produced,  in  1768,  not  lace,  but  a 
kind  of  knitting,  of  running  loops  or  stitches,  like  that  afterward  known  as 
"  Brussels  ground."  In  1777  Else  and  Harvey  introduced  the  point-net 
machine,  so  called  because  made  on  sharp  pins  or  points.  Other  improve- 
ments followed,  but  machinery  had  not  yet  arrived  at  producing  a  solid  net : 
it  was  still  only  knitting,  a  single  thread  passing  from  one  end  of  the  frame 
to  the  other,  and  if  a  thread  broke,  the  work  was  unravelled.  The  threads, 
therefore,  required  to  be  gummed  together  to  give  stiffness  and  solidity  to 
the  net.  To  remedy  this  evil,  the  warp  or  chain  machine  was  invented, 
which  was  again  improved  and  made  "  Mechlin  net,"  from  which  the  machine 
took  its  name. 

The  machine  for  making  "  bobbin-net "  was  invented  by  John  Heathcoat 
in  1809.  "  Bobbin-net  "  was  so  named  because  the  threads  are  wound  upon 
bobbins.  It  was  "twisted"  instead  of  "looped"  net.  There  are  now 
machines  which  make  net  three  and  a  half  and  five  yards  wide. 

The  work  done  by  the  bobbin-net  machine  consists  in  the  coiling  of  one 
set  of  threads  around  another.  The  machine  by  which  this  is  effected  is  a 
singularly  complex  piece  of  mechanism.  The  principle  of  the  invention 
was  the  use  of  fixed  parallel  warp  threads,  round  which  the  bobbin  threads 
were  worked  as  the  woof  of  the  fabric,  one  set  going  obliquely  across  from 
right  to  left,  and  the  second  set  obliquely  across  from  left  to  right.  The 
bobbin  threads  are  made  to  pass  to  and  fro  between  the  vertical  threads, 
and  to  twist  around  them  by  a  combination  of  movements.  The  vertical 
threads  shift  laterally  to  and  fro  ;  the  bobbins  have  a  backward  and  forward 
motion,  like  the  pendulum  of  a  clock,  and  the  frame  to  which  they  are  all 
attached  has  itself  a  distinct  movement.  Sometimes  there  are  as  many  as 
three  or  four  thousand  bobbins  to  one  machine  capable  of  making  net  five 
yards  in  width. 

In  the  machine,  the  warp  threads,  to  the  number  of  seven  hundred  to 
twelve  hundred  in  a  yard  of  width,  are  stretched  upon  a  roller  which  extends 
the  whole  length  of  the  thread-beam,  and  the  woof  threads  are  wound  each 
upon  a  bobbin  formed  of  two  thin  brass  disks  riveted  together,  leaving  a 
narrow  space  between  them  for  thread.  These  bobbins  are  fixed  upon  a 
small  carriage  or  frame  which  moves  backwards  and  forwards  like  a  weaver's 
shuttle. 


Design  Applied  to  Woven  Fabrics, 


89 


The  pieces  of  bobbin-net  measure  twenty  or  thirty  yards  each  ;  the  width 
is  variable. 

The  narrow  strips  —  even  the  narrow  quillings  used  for  cap-borders  —  are 
made  by  the  same  machine,  many  breadths  together,  which  are  temporarily 
united  by  threads  that  are  finally  drawn  out. 

A  Jacquard  apparatus  is  attached  to  some  of  the  machines  for  working  in 
the  thick  thread  of  gimp  for  the  ornamental  figures. 

Where  the  thread  passes  from  one  figure  to  the  other,  it  is  clipped  off  by 
children.    At  many  of  the  factories  the  pattern  is  worked  in  by  hand. 

The  Government  School  of  Design  at  Nottingham  has  educated  many 
skilful  designers,  who  prepare  the  pattern  upon  wood  or  stone,  as  for  engrav- 
ing or  printing,  those  parts  intended  to  leave  a  mark  being  in  relief.  The 
block,  being  moistened  by  some  colored  pigment,  is  repeatedly  impressed 
upon  the  net,  until  the  pattern  is  transferred  to  the  whole  surface  designed 
for  it,  and  the  figure  is  then  worked  with  the  needle,  the  web  being  extended 
horizontally  in  a  frame. 

Bobbin-net  and  lace  are  cleaned  from  the  loose  fibres  of  the  cotton  by  the 
ingenious  process  of  "  gassing,"  as  it  is  called.  A  flame  of  gas  is  drawn 
through  the  lace  by  means  of  a  vacuum  above.  The  sheet  of  lace  passes  to 
the  flame  opaque  and  obscured  by  loose  fibres,  and  issues  from  it  bright  and 
clear,  not  to  be  distinguished  from  lace  made  by  the  purest  linen  thread,  and 
entirely  uninjured  by  the  flame.  The  net  is  stiffened  by  being  dipped  in  a 
mixture  of  gum  and  paste,  then  stretched,  and  afterwards  rolled  and  pressed. 

In  1834  eight  bobbin-net  machines  were  set  up  in  Brussels  for  the  purpose 
of  making  the  double  and  triple  twisted  net,  upon  which  the  pillow-flowers 
are  sewn  to  produce  the  Brussels  application  lace.  In  a  few  years  they  suc- 
ceeded in  excelling  the  English  manufacture,  and  this  net  has  for  nearly  thirty 
years  superseded  the  expensive  pillow-ground. 

Brussels  produces  little  else  but  this  extra  fine  ground,  which  is  universally 
known  as  "  Brussels  net." 

MACHINERY  LACE. 

While  England  boasts  of  the  invention  of  bobbin-net,  France  made  appli- 
cation of  the  Jacquard  system  to  the  net  frame  in  1837,  and  consequently 
claims  the  invention  of  machinery  lace.  Shawls  and  larger  pieces  of  "run 
lace,"  as  it  is  termed,  had  previously  been  made  after  this  manner.  The  pat- 
tern proposed  to  be  "  run  in  "  is  printed  by  means  of  engraved  wood  blocks 
on  the  ground,  which,  if  white,  is  of  cotton,  if  black,  of  silk. 

The  ground  is  stretched  on  a  frame ;  the  "  lace-runner  "  places  her  left 
hand  under  the  net,  and  with  the  right  works  the  pattern.  The  filling  up  of 
the  interior  is  termed  "fining,"  or  "open  working,"  as  the  original  meshes  of 
the  net  are  brought  to  a  smaller  or  larger  size  by  the  needle. 

The  Jacquard  system  had  been  used  at  Lyons  in  1823-4,  with  the  Mechlin 
frame,  for  making  patterned  net  and  embroidered  blondes  ;  this  suggested 
the  appHcation  of  the  Jacquard  cards  to  making  lace.  In  1836  to  1838  Mr. 
Ferguson,  by  applying  it  to  the  circular  bobbin-net  frame,  brought  out  the 
12 


90 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


black  silk  net  imitation  of  Chantilly.  The  pattern  was  woven  by  the  machine, 
the  brode,  or  relief,  "  run  in." 

Nottingham  and  Saint-Pierre-les-Calais  rival  each  other  in  the  variety  of 
their  productions. 

The  French,  by  adopting  what  is  technically  termed  eight  "  motives,"  pro- 
duce their  lace  of  a  finer  make  and  more  complex  pattern. 

The  Calais  lace  is  an  admirable  copy  of  the  square-grounded  Valenciennes, 
and  is  the  staple  trade  of  the  manufacture.  Calais  also  produces  black  and 
white  blondes,  fancy  nets  of  various  patterns,  the  dentelles  de  lai?ie  of  Le 
Puy,  together  with  black  and  white  laces  innumerable. 

Almost  every  description  of  lace  is  now  manufactured  by  machinery,  and 
it  is  often  no  easy  task,  even  for  a  practised  eye,  to  detect  the  difference. 
Still  the  most  finished  productions  of  the  frame  never  possess  the  touch,  the 
finish,  or  the  beauty  of  the  laces  made  by  hand. 

The  invention  of  the  machine-made  lace  has  not  diminished  the  demand 
for  the  finer  fabrics  of  the  pillow  and  the  needle.  The  rich  have  sought  more 
largely  than  ever  the  exquisite  works  of  Brussels  or  Alen^on,  since  machinery 
has  brought  the  wearing  of  lace  within  the  reach  of  all  classes  of  society. 


Flat  or  Surface  Decoration, 


91 


XL 

FLAT  OR  SURFACE  DECORATION. 

Surface  decoration  or  ornamentation  must  have  been  practised  at  a  very 
early  period  ;  for  as  far  back  as  any  records  in  history  relating  to  the  decora- 
tive arts  take  us,  we  find  that  it  was,  in  various  ways  and  upon  various 
objects,  by  different  nations  and  classes  of  people.  The  savage  tattooed  his 
body  and  decorated  the  walls  of  his  hut  with  hideously  grotesque,  roughly 
drawn  designs,  representing  his  uncivilized  ideas,  and  destitute  of  any  prin- 
ciples of  form  or  beauty.  Certain  savage  races,  however,  have  displayed 
much  taste  and  power,  considering  the  materials  at  their  command,  in  orna- 
menting their  weapons  of  war,  their  persons,  etc. 

Leaving  decoration  amongst  savage  races,  let  us  notice  some  characteristic 
features  of  its  use  by  the  more  civihzed  nations,  possessing  and  cultivating 
principles  of  ornament  which  show  a  knowledge  of  the  true  principles  of 
form  and  beauty  as  relating  to  the  decorative  arts,  whether  symbolic  or 
aesthetic.  All  good  ornament  and  good  decoration  have  qualities  which 
appeal  only  to  the  educated  mind.  But  before  we  can  rightly  understand 
these,  it  will  be  necessary  for  us  to  inquire  into  the  general  revelation  which 
the  ornament  of  any  particular  nation  or  people  makes  to  us. 

Illustrations  of  ornament  composed  of  the  conventionalized  lotus  or  water- 
lily  may  be  found  on  nearly  every  Egyptian  object  of  utility  or  ornament ;  and 
this  device  is  repeated  over  and  over  again.  The  peculiarity  of  the  drawing 
of  the  Egyptian  lotus  expresses  the  peculiarity  of  Egyptian  ornament,  namely^ 
a  severity,  a  rigidity  of  line,  a  sort  of  sternness,  coupled  with  an  amount  of 
dignity  which  is  very  apparent.  The  priesthood,  perceiving  the  watchful- 
ness manifested  by  the  people  for  the  coming  of  the  lotus,  —  for  it  was  the 
first  flower  to  make  its  appearance  after  the  subsidence  of  the  overflowing 
of  the  Nile,  —  taught  that  in  it  abode  a  god,  and  that  it  must  be  worshipped  ; 
and  thus  the  lotus  became  an  element  of  ornamentation  and  an  object  of 
worship.  Another  device  in  Egyptian  ornament  is  the  "  winged  globe." 
This  ball  or  globe,  from  the  sides  of  which  extend  two  wings,  each  being 
from  five  to  eight  times  its  diameter,  was  symbolical  of  the  power  of  the 
kingdom  of  Egypt.  The  priesthood  taught  that  it  was  a  symbol  of  protec- 
tion, and  it  was  placed  on  the  lintel  of  every  house  of  the  Egyptians,  as  well 
as  on  many  other  objects.    Thus  we  see  that  Egyptian  ornament  was  symbolic 


92 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


in  character.    Many  principles  of  great  value  to  the  decorative  artist,  are 
■derivable  from  it. 

In  Greek  ornament  and  decoration  we  find  forms  having  a  different  object  *■ 
and  a  different  aim  from  those  of  the  Egyptians.  It  is  not  symbolic.  The 
Greeks,  being  a  refined  people,  sought  to  express  refinement  in  their  works. 
In  one  respect  the  Greeks  resembled  the  Egyptians,  for  they  rarely  created 
new  forms.  When  once  a  form  became  sacred  to  the  Egyptians  it  could  not 
be  altered  ;  but  in  the  Greeks,  while  bound  by  no  law,  the  love  of  form  was 
great.  They  did  not,  however,  simply  reproduce  what  they  had  created,  but 
labored  hard  to  improve  and  refine  it,  and  even  through  succeeding  centuries 
strove  to  refine  those  simple  forms  and  ornamental  compositions  which 
have  become  characteristic  of  them  as  a  people.  The  general  expression  of 
Greek  art  is  that  of  refinement,  and  the  manner  in  which  their  delicately 
cultivated  taste  is  expressed  in  their  ornament  is  astonishing.  One  decora- 
tive device  of  Greek  ornament,  the  Anthemion,  may  be  regarded  as  their 
principal  ornament,  and  the  variety  of  refined  forms  in  which  it  appears  is 
most  interesting.  Great  as  is  the  beauty  of  some  of  these  forms,  we  notice 
that  they  show  something  more  than  the  perfected  taste  of  their  producers, 
for  they  reveal  to  us  the  fact  that  their  creators  had  a  great  knowledge  of 
natural  forces  and  the  laws  by  which  these  forces  were  governed.  This 
becomes  apparent  when  we  inquire  into  the  manner  in  which  they  arranged 
the  proportions  of  the  various  parts  of  their  work  to  the  whole,  and  especially 
when  we  consider  the  subtile  nature  of  the  curves  which  they  employed  both 
in  architectural  members  and  decorative  forms. 

There  is  much  that  is  worthy  of  study  in  the  decorative  works  of  the 
Persians,  the  Indians,  the  Chinese,  and  others,  but  our  space  will  not  allow 
■us  to  dwell  on  the  beauties  of  each.  The  decoration  of  the  Moors  is  most 
exquisite  and  beautiful.  The  simplicity  of  arrangement  of  the  varied  geo- 
metric forms  upon  which  it  is  based,  and  the  principles  and  laws  by  which 
the  Moors  were  governed  in  the  division  and  subdivision  of  forms  used  in 
decoration,  are  well  worthy  the  careful  study  and  consideration  of  the  decora- 
tive artist.  But  there  are  other  meanings  in  ornament,  and  other  general 
expressions  which  decorative  forms  convey  to  the  mind.  Thus  sharp, 
angular,  or  spiny  forms  are  more  or  less  exciting,  while  bold  and  broad  forms 
are  soothing  and  tend  to  give  repose. 

Nothing  can  be  more  important  to  the  ornamentist  than  the  scientific  study 
of  art.  The  inquiry  into  cause  and  effect  as  relating  to  decorative  ideas  is 
very  important,  indeed  all-important,  to  the  true  decorator.  He  must  con- 
stantly ask  himself  what  effect  such  and  such  a  form  has  upon  his  mind  ;  which 
effects  are  soothing,  which  cheerful,  which  melancholy,  which  rich,  which 
•ethereal,  which  gorgeous,  which  solid,  which  graceful,  and  so  on  ;  and  in 
order  to  do  this  he  must  separate  the  various  elements  of  composition,  and 
consider  those  parts,  so  as  to  be  sure  he  is  not  mistaken  as  to  what  affects 
his  mind  in  any  particular  manner,  and  then  combine  these  elements  in  vari- 
ous proportions  and  consider  the  effects  of  the  various  combinations  on  the 
minds  of  others,  and  he  will  thus  discover  what  will  enable  him  to  so  act 


Flat  or  Smface  Decoration. 


93 


upon  the  senses  as  to  induce  such  eifects  as  he  may  desire  to  produce.  Let 
the  sense  of  the  decoration  of  a  dining-room  be  that  of  richness,  of  a  drawing- 
room,  cheerfulness  ;  of  a  library,  worth ;  of  a  bed-room,  repose.  Glitter 
should  never  occur  in  large  quantities,  for  that  which  excites  can  only  be 
sparingly  indulged  in  ;  if  it  is  too  frequently  employed,  it  gives  the  sense  of 
vulgarity.  All  decoration  should  possess  and  represent  truthfulness  ;  for 
what  is  more  immoral  or  base  than  false  ornament  and  decoration  ? 

Ornamentation  is,  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word,  a  fine  art ;  there  is  no 
art  more  ennobUng,  none  more  exalted.  It  can  cheer  the  sorrowing ;  it  can 
soothe  the  troubled ;  it  can  enhance  the  joys  of  those  who  make  merry ;  it 
can  inculcate  the  doctrines  of  truth ;  it  can  refine,  elevate,  purify,  and  point 
onward  and  upward  to  heaven  and  to  God.  This  being  the  case,  those  who 
ignore  decoration  cast  aside  a  source  of  refinement,  and  deprive  themselves 
of  what  may  elevate  them  in  virtue  and  morals.  Such  neglect  on  the  part  of 
those  who  can  afford  luxuries  would  be  highly  censurable,  were  it  not  that 
many  professors  of  the  decorative  arts  are  mere  pretenders,  knowing  not  what 
they  practise,  and  ignorant  of  the  power  they  hold  in  their  hands.  The  true 
artist  is  a  rare  creature ;  he  is  often  unknown,  frequently  misunderstood  or 
not  understood  at  all,  and  not  unfrequently  lost  to  a  people  that  prefer  shal- 
lowness to  depth,  falsehood  to  truth,  glitter  to  repose. 

Decorative  forms  must  be  beautiful.  Shapes  which  are  not  beautiful  can 
rarely  be  decorative.  They  must  be  truthful  in  expression,  and  graceful, 
delicate,  and  refined  in  outline,  manifesting  no  coarseness,  vulgarity,  or  obtru- 
siveness  of  character.  A  beautiful  composition  will  have  no  parts  which 
can  be  taken  from  it,  and  leave  the  remainder  equally  good  or  better.  The 
perfectly  beautiful  is  that  which  admits  of  no  improvement.  The  beautiful 
is  lovable,  and,  like  all  which  is  lovable,  it  takes  hold  of  the  affections  and 
clings  to  them. 

Having  considered  those  principles  which  are  of  primary  importance  to  the 
decorator,  we  may  now  consider  the  special  manner  in  which  they  should  be 
applied  to  the  decoration  of  ceilings  and  walls  of  rooms. 

We  are  met  at  the  outset  with  a  great  difficulty.  How  are  we  to  decide 
upon  the  proper  decoration  for  a  room,  since  its  fitness  is  often  dependent 
upon  the  structural  and  ornamental  details  of  the  room,  and  since  in  all 
cases  the  character  of  the  decoration  should  depend  upon  the  character  of 
the  architecture?  Broadly  speaking,  if  a  building  is  in  the  Gothic  style,  all 
that  it  contains  in  the  way  of  decoration  should  be  Gothic.  If  Greek,  the 
decoration  should  be  Greek.  If  Italian,  the  decoration  should  be  ItaHan, 
and  so  on. 

The  character  of  the  decoration  must  be  not  only  in  the  style  of  the  archi- 
tecture of  the  building  which  it  is  intended  to  beautify,  but  it  must  be  similar 
in  nature  to  the  ornament,  coeval  with  the  architecture  of  the  building. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  we  advocate  the  reproduction  of  works,  or 
even  of  styles  of  architecture  such  as  were  created  in  times  gone  by,  for  we 
are  not.  The  people  of  past  ages  carefully  sought  to  ascertain  their  wants, 
resulting  from  chmate,  from  the  nature  of  their  religion,  and  from  their  social 


94 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


arrangements,  and  satisfied  them  as  far  as  the  building  material  at  their 

command  would  allow.  We,  on  the  contrary,  look  at  a  hundred  old  build- 
ings, and  without  considering  that  our  needs  differ  from  those  of  our  fore- 
fathers, take  a  bit  from  one  and  a  bit  from  another,  or  we  reproduce  one 
almost  as  it  stands,  and  thus  blunder  on,  instead  of  seeking  to  raise  such 
buildings  as  are  in  all  respects  suited  to  our  modern  requirements.  We  are, 
however,  improving  in  this  respect,  and  changes  for  the  better  are  being 
made. 

We  have  said  that  a  building  should  be  decorated  with  such  ornament  as 
viras,  in  time  past,  associated  with  its  particular  form  of  architecture.  Let  not 
the  ornament,  however,  be  a  mere  servile  imitation  of  what  has  gone  before, 
but  let  the  designer  study  the  ornament  of  bygone  ages  till  he  understands 
and  feels  its  spirit,  and  then  let  him  strive  to  produce  new  forms  and  new 
combinations  in  the  spirit  of  the  ornament  of  the  past. 

This  must  be  studied  in  its  purity,  and  not  from  such  wretched  attempts  at 
Gothic  decoration  as  we  often  see.  Nothing  can  be  worse  than  a  bit  of  Greek 
or  a  fragment  of  Egyptian  ornament,  a  Moorish  scroll,  a  Gothic  flower,  and 
an  Italian  husk  associated  together  in  one  ornament.  Whatsis  recommended 
is  the  combination  of  new  forms  into  compositions  which  may  have  the  vigor 
of  the  best  Gothic  ornament,  the  severity  of  the  Egyptian,  the  intricacy  of 
the  Persian,  the  richness  of  the  Moorish,  and  so  on,  without  imitating  in 
detail  the  various  styles  of  the  ornament  of  the  past. 

In  the  decoration  of  a  room,  the  question  is  often  asked,  "  Why  make  our 
ceilings  white  ? "  and  we  are  told  that  as  whiteness  renders  the  ceiling  almost 
invisible  it  is  preferred.  Blue  is  the  most  ethereal  and  most  distant  of  all 
colors ;  but  we  have  been  accustomed  to  white  ceihngs  from  our  infancy, 
and  have  been  taught  to  regard  a  clean  white  ceiling  as  all  that  is  to  be 
desired.  Blue,  we  have  said,  is  ethereal  in  character,  and  may  become 
exceedingly  so  if  of  medium  depth  and  of  a  gray  hue  ;  hence,  if  a  mere 
atmospheric  effect  is  sought,  it  would  be  desirable  that  this  color  be  used  on 
the  ceiling  rather  than  white.  Furthermore,  the  ceiling  may  become  an 
object  of  great  beauty,  and  it  can  be  seen  as  a  whole.  Suppose  we  have  an 
ordinary  room  to  deal  with  :  place  all  over  the  ceiling  a  pattern  which  repeats 
equally  in  all  directions  ;  let  this  pattern  be  in  blue  and  white,  or  in  blue 
(of  any  depth)  and  cream  color,  and  it  is  sure  to  look  well,  the  blue  being  the 
ground  and  the  white  the  ornament. 

Simple  patterns  in  cream  color  on  a  blue  ground,  with  strong  black  out- 
lines, also  look  well ;  and  these  may  be  prepared  in  paper  and  hung  on  the 
ceiling  as  common  paper-hangings,  if  cheapness  is  essential.  Gold  orna- 
ments on  a  deep  blue  ground,  with  black  outlines,  also  look  rich  and  are 
effective.  These  are  all,  however,  simple  methods  of  treatment ;  for  any 
amount  of  color  may  be  used  on  a  ceiling,  provided  the  colors  are  employed 
in  very  small  masses,  and  are  perfectly  combined,  so  that  the  effect  produced 
is  that  of  a  rich  bloom.  A  ceiling  should  be  beautiful,  and  should  also  be 
manifest.  The  ceiling  may  look  well  if  covered  all  over  with  a  suitable  pat- 
tern, or  it  may  look  well  with  a  central  ornament  only,  or  with  a  central 


Flat  or  Stiff  ace  Decoration. 


95 


ornament  and  corners,  especially  if  the  cornice  is  heavy,  so  as  to  give  com- 
pensating weight  in  the  margin.  If  the  ceiling  is  fiat,  all  ornament  placed 
upon  it  must  not  only  be  flat  also,  but  must  not  fictitiously  represent  relief, 
for  no  shaded  ornament  can  be  pleasant  when  used  to  decorate  an  architec- 
tural surface. 

Many  circumstances  tend  to  determine  the  nature  of  the  decoration  which 
should  be  a^Dplied  to  a  ceiling ;  thus,  if  a  ceiling  is  structurally  divided  into 
square  panels,  the  character  of  the  ornament  is  thereby  restricted  ;  and  should 
these  panels  be  large,  it  will  probably  be  desirable  that  each  be  fitted  with 
the  same  ornament ;  while  if  they  are  small,  three  or  four  different  patterns 
may  be  employed,  if  arranged  in  an  orderly  manner. 

A  ceiling  may  also  have  joists  or  beams  visible  upon  it,  and  in  this  case  the 
decoration  must  be  of  a  very  special  character.  The  bottoms  of  the  joists 
may  have  a  running  pattern  upon  them,  such  as  the  Greek  "  key  "  or  guil- 
loche,  whilst  the  sides  may  be  decorated  with  a  running  pattern,  or  a  pattern 
with  an  upward  tendency,  such  as  the  Greek  "  honeysuckle,"  and  the  ceiling 
intervening  between  the  joists  with  a  running  pattern,  or  better  yet,  a  star  or 
diaper  pattern. 

If,  however,  the  ceiling  is  flat,  and  is  not  divided  into  sections  structurally, 
almost  any  "setting  out "  of  the  surface  may  be  employed.  In  any  case  it  is 
not  necessary  or  even  desirable  that  the  ornament  upon  the  ceiling  be  in  re- 
lief. Avoid  an  architectural  setting  out,  if  there  are  no  structural  members  ; 
for  ornament  which  is  flat  may  be  spread  in  any  manner  over  a  surface  with- 
out even  appearing  to  need  structural  supports. 

As  to  the  color  of  a  ceiling,  if  there  is  to  be  no  ornament  upon  it,  let  it  be 
cream  color  rather  than  white.  Cream  color  always  looks  well  upon  a  ceiling, 
and  gives  the  idea  of  purity.  A  gray-blue  is  also  a  very  good  color  for  a 
ceiling. 

To  paint  pictures  upon  ceilings,  as  has  been  done  in  some  parts  of  Europe, 
is  in  every  way  wrong,  i.  A  ceiling  is  a  flat  surface,  hence  all  decoration 
placed  upon  it  should  be  flat  also.  2.  A  picture  can  only  be  correctly  seen 
from  one  point  of  view,  whereas  the  decoration  of  a  ceiling  should  be  of  such 
a  character  that  it  can  be  well  seen  from  any  part  of  the  room.  3.  Pictures 
have  almost  invariably  a  right  and  a  wrong  way  upwards  to  almost  all  the 
guests  in  the  room.  4.  In  order  to  understand  a  picture,  you  must  see  its 
entire  surface  at  one  time,  which  it  is  very  difficult  to  do  without  fatiguing  the 
neck  or  lying  on  your  back  upon  the  floor  ;  whereas  an  ornament  which  con- 
sists of  repeated  parts  does  not  require  that  the  whole  ceiling  be  seen  at 
one  glance. 

What  can  be  worse  than  painted  festoons  of  leafage,  hung  like  so  many 
sausages,  upon  a  ceiling,  with  griffins,  small  framed  pictures,  impossible 
flowers,  and  feeble  ornament,  and  picked  out  with  fictitious  light  and  shade  ? 
But  not  content  with  such  absurdities  and  incongruities,  the  festoons  of  leaf- 
age hang  upwards  rather  than  downwards  on  vaulted  or  domed  ceilings. 
Such  ornament  was  first  used  when  Rome,  intoxicated  with  its  conquests, 
yielded  itself  up  to  luxury  and  vice  rather  than  to  a  consideration  of  beauty 
and  truth. 


96 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


In  all  ages  when  decorative  art  has  flourished,  ceilings  have  been  deco- 
rated, —  by  the  Egyptians,  the  Greeks,  and  by  the  people  of  the  Middle  Ages 

We  will  now  consider  the  manner  in  which  ornament  should  be  applied  to 
walls  with  the  view  of  rendering  them  decorative. 

A  wall  may  look  well  without  decoration,  strictly  so  called,  and  this  state- 
ment leads  us  to  notice  the  various  ways  in  which  walls  may  be  treated  with 
the  view  of  rendering  them  both  decorative  and  beautiful.  A  wall  may  be 
simply  tinted,  either  with  distemper  color  or  "flatted"  oil  color.  Distemper 
color  gives  the  best  effect,  and  is  much  the  cheapest,  but  it  is  not  at  all 
durable.  Every  mark  will  show  upon  it.  If  rubbed,  it  is  marked,  and  it 
cannot  be  washed.  Oil  color,  when  flatted,  makes  a  good  wash,  whether 
"stippled"  or  plain.  It  is  durable,  and  maybe  washed.  An  entire  wall 
should  never  be  varnished. 

A  good  effect,  of  a  very  plain  and  inexpensive  character,  may  be  produced 
by  a  black  skirting  to  a  cream-colored  wall,  a  cornice  tinted  with  a  pale  gray- 
ish blue,  with  blue  of  almost  any  depth,  with  white,  and  a  slight  line  of  red. 

A  slightly  more  decorative  character  may  be  given  to  a  room,  by  painting 
the  lower  three  feet  of  the  wall  of  a  different  color  (thus  forming  a  dado) 
from  the  upper  part  of  the  wall.  Thus,  if  the  other  parts  of  the  room  are 
colored  as  in  the  example  just  given,  the  lower  three  feet  may  be  red  (made 
of  vermilion  toned  to  a  rich  Indian  red  with  ultramarine  blue)  or  chocolate 
(made  of  purple,  brown,  and  white,  with  a  little  orange  chrome).  This  lower 
portion  of  the  wall  should  be  separated  from  the  upper  cream-colored  portion 
by  a  line  of  black  an  inch  broad,  or  better  by  a  double  hne,  the  upper  line 
being  an  inch  broad,  the  lower  line  three  eighths  of  an  inch,  and  the  two  lines 
being  separated  from  each  other  by  five  eighths  of  an  inch  of  the  red  or 
chocolate. 

The  formation  of  a  dado  is  Hked,  because  it  gives  an  apparent  stability 
to  the  wall  by  making  its  lower  portion  dark,  and  because  furniture  is  invari- 
ably much  improved  by  being  seen  against  a  dark  background.  The  dado 
need  not  be  plain  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  may  be  enriched  to  any  extent.  It 
may  be  plain,  with  a  bordering  separating  it  from  the  wall ;  or  it  may  have  a 
simple  flower  regularly  dispersed  over  it ;  or  it  may  be  covered  with  a  geo- 
metrical repeating  pattern,  —  in  either  of  which  cases  it  should  have  a  border  ; 
or  it  may  be  enriched  with  a  specially  designed  piece  of  ornament. 

If  the  dado  is  enriched  with  ornament,  and  the  cornice  is  colored,  and  a 
pattern  is  repeated  upon  the  ceiling,  the  walls  may  be  plain  if  they  are  of  soft 
colors,  or  they  may  be  covered  with  a  simple  "  powdering." 

If  a  room  is  high,  a  bordering  may  run  round  the  upper  portion  of  the  wall 
about  three  to  four  inches  below  the  cornice. 

Walls  in  middle-class  houses  are  usually  papered.  This  universal  custom 
is  not  objectionable  ;  but  the  paper  should  be  so  put  on  as  not  to  show  the 
joinings.  The  paper  should  be  cut  to  the  pattern  and  not  in  straight  lines. 
Paper  for  walls  should  be  used  artistically,  and  not  as  paper. 

As  to  the  nature  of  the  pattern  which  a  wall-paper  should  have,  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  speak,  as  there  are  endless  varieties  ;  but  as  a  rule,  it  may  be 


» 


Flat  or  Surface  Decoration. 


97 


said  that  those  patterns  made  up  of  small,  simple,  repeated  parts,  which  are 
low-toned  or  neutral  in  color,  are  the  best.  Most  wall-paper  patterns  are 
larger  than  is  desir.ible.  The  pattern  can  scarcely  be  too  simple,  and  it 
should  in  all  cases  consist  of  flat  ornament. 

If  the  ornament  is  very  good,  and  the  pattern  is  the  work  of  a  true  artist, 
it  may  be  larger,  for  then  the  parts  will  be  balanced  and  harmonized  in  a 
manner  that  could  not  be  expected  from  a  less  skilful  hand  ;  but  even  if  by 
the  most  talented  designer,  it  must  be  remembered  that  he  has  designed  it 
at  random,  and  not  as  a  suitable  decoration  for  any  particular  room.  The 
man  who  selects  the  pattern  for  a  particular  wall  must  choose  that  which  is 
suitable  to  the  special  case. 

The  best  wall-paper  patterns  are  those  which  consist  of  somewhat  strong 
colors  in  very  small  masses,  —  so  small,  in  fact,  that  the  general  effect  of  the 
paper  is  rich,  low-toned,  and  neutral,  and  yet  has  a  glowing  color-bloom  ;  but 
these  are  rarely  met  with. 

Respecting  the  coloring  of  cornices,  a  few  words  should  be  said.  i.  They 
may  be  painted  in  bright  colors.  2.  As  a  rule,  get  red  in  shadow  or  in  shade  ; 
blue  on  fiat  or  hollow  surfaces,  especially  those  that  recede  from  the  eye,  and 
yellow  on  rounded  advancing  members.  3.  Use  for  red  either  vermilion  or 
carmine  ;  for  blue,  ultramarine,  either  pure  or  with  white  ;  for  yellow,  middle 
or  orange  chrome,  diluted  with  white.  4.  Use  red  very  sparingly,  blue 
abundantly,  and  pale  yellow  in  medium  quantity. 


98 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


XIL 

WATER- COLOR  PAINTING. 

Water-colors  in  the  present  day  are  very  different  from  the  tinted  and 
washed  drawings  of  earher  times.  Instead  of  being  called  drawing  in  water- 
colors  the  process  has  received  the  higher  name  of  water-color  painting. 

The  colors  no  longer  simply  wash  the  surface  of  the  paper,  but  in  many 
instances  they  so  saturate  the  paper  as  really  to  become  a  part  of  it.  Care 
must  be  taken  to  use  such  colors  only  as  are  known  to  be  durable.  Water- 
colors  are  admirably  adapted  for  the  representation  of  atmosphere  under  any 
conditions  ;  for  middle  distance  also  they  compete  successfully  with  oil-colors, 
but  for  foregrounds  and  foliage  they  can  never  attain  to  the  same  depth  and 
power,  and  be  accompanied  with  the  same  minute  detail. 

To  obtain  depth  and  power  in  the  lightest  tones  of  finished  works,  a  single 
color  is  not  sufficient ;  it  is  necessary  to  repeat  the  washings-on  and  wash- 
ings-off  in  order  that  the  tint  may  become  granular  like  the  surface  of  the 
paper. 

It  is  from  this  peculiar  grain  of  the  surface  that  the  eye  rather  looks  into 
it  than  upon  it,  receiving  an  impression  of  space  rather  than  of  definite  dis- 
tance, and  in  this  respect  water-color  has  a  decided  advantage  over  oil  paint- 
ing. In  the  former,  a  literal  rendering  of  objects  in  the  foreground,  particu- 
larly of  trees  and  herbage,  is  seldom  attempted,  generalization  and  sentiment 
being  more  suited  to  this  style  of  art. 

There  is  no  effect  of  which  water-color  is  not  capable,  whether  of  power  or 
of  delicacy,  intensity,  or  purity.  Being  equally  adapted  to  figure  painting 
and  landscape,  it  will  faithfully  fulfil  the  dictate  of  the  artist's  will,  and  be- 
come an  instructive,  perfect,  and  permanent  work. 

There  are  principles  which  do  not  really  concern  water-color  painting,  but 
as  they  are  in  every  sense  so  connected  with  it  that  it  must  have  recourse  to 
them,  it  seems  necessary  to  notice  them  here. 

FORM. 

Beauty  and  symmetry  of  form  are  dependent  more  upon  curved  than  upon 
straight  lines  :  in  the  former  the  eye  perceives  a  deviation  without  disturbance, 
and  therefore  they  are  in  consonance  with  the  feelings,  while  in  the  latter  at 
every  angle  produced  it  receives  a  certain  check,  and  is  consequently  affected. 


Water-Color  Painting, 


99 


As  form  is  the  construction  of  nature,  so  is  color  the  expression  of  it, 
and  both  are  in  a  measure  dependent  upon  each  other.  To  say  that  senti- 
ment cannot  be  portrayed  by  form  would  be  untrue,  as  character  can  be 
expressed  by  lines  of  some  sort  or  other ;  but  the  veritable  representation  and 
perfection  of  sentiment  can  only  be  completely  rendered  by  color,  whether 
gay  or  sombre. 

COMPOSITION. 

The  leading  idea  and  unity  of  purpose,  so  essential  both  to  the  poem  and 
the  picture,  must  bq  strictly  observed. 

In  landscape  painting  the  picture  may  be.described  as  being  that  portion  of 
nature  visible  at  one  time  and  from  one  spot. 

The  first  studies  of  composition  should  be  faithful  transcripts  of  the  lines 
as  they  appear  in  nature.  Subjects  having  simple  forms  should  be  selected, 
and  from  these  no  deviation  should  be  permitted  ;  by  this  practice  the  mind 
becomes  stored  with  images  so  clear  and  distinct  as  never  to  be  forgotten, 
simplicity  of  parts  and  lines  being  at  all  times  necessary  to  produce  repose. 
After  a  little  practice  in  composition,  the  student  will  become  aware  that  lines 
receding  from  the  foreground  or  base  line  of  the  picture,  assist  the  perspec- 
tive, and  lead  to  a  true  estimation  of  the  distance  of  objects,  while  those  par- 
allel to  it  only  carry  the  eye  from  one  side  to  the  other.  A  road,  a  path,  or 
a  river  may  serve  to  increase  the  interest  by  conducting  the  eye  into  space, 
and  by  directing  the  attention  towards  the  distance,  or  the  special  points  of 
the  subject.  Any  position  in  which  the  ruts  of  a  road  run  perpendicularly 
from  the  base-line  should  be  changed  for  one  which  will  make  them  incline 
either  to  the  right  or  left. 

The  terminations  of  promontories  must  be  varied  so  that  they  may  not 
appear  to  be  exactly  under  one  another,  — an  error  of  position  to  be  avoided. 
One  attractive  element  may  successfully  balance  another  of  a  different  char- 
acter. The  horizon  line  is  of  the  greatest  importance,  and  it  should  always 
indicate  the  height  of  the  eye.  The  point  of  sight  should  be  placed  more  or 
less  to  the  right  or  left  in  the  picture.  In  regard  to  distance,  only  one  por- 
tion of  a  landscape  is  in  the  proper  focus  to  be  seen  distinctly  at  one  time ; 
yet,  as  all  the  objects  represented  in  a  picture  are  placed  at  the  same  actual 
distance  from  the  eye,  we  should  select  such  a  spot  in  the  natural  view  as 
we  desire  to  render  most  attractive  in  the  drawing;  then,  assuming  that 
particular  spot  to  be  our  focus,  the  other  parts  should  be  rendered  more  or 
less  apparent,  by  being  more  or  less  finished  in  proportion  as  their  distance 
from  that  point  increases  ;  in  this  way  the  eye  will  be  led  to  dwell  on  the 
most  important  point.  Lines  should  be  arranged  and  modified  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  keep  the  eye  from  wandering  out  of  the  picture. 

Simplicity  in  arranging  points  of  interest  should  be  the  chief  aim ;  one 
object  should  never  be  placed  over  another,  if  intended  to  be  of  the  same  size 
and  to  have  effect ;  neither  should  two  objects  of  the  same  size  and  interest 
be  so  placed  as  to  appear  one  on  each  side  of  some  middle  object. 

The  form  of  a  picture  must  not  be  exactly  square.  The  effect  of  height  in 
lofty  objects,  as  a  near  view  of  a  cathedral  tower  or  a  mountain  peak,  is  often 
aided  by  an  upright  form. 


\ 


lOO  The  Antefix  Papers. 

LIGHT  AND  SHADE. 

There  is  an  evident  tendency  in  nature  towards  one  spot  o  bright  light, 
and  one  portion  of  shadow  or  concentrated  dark ;  and  when,  in  a  picture, 
these  are  in  opposition,  a  greater  and  more  brilhant  effect  is  the  result.  The 
light  portions  of  objects  should,  in  art  as  in  nature,  first  attract  the  attention  ; 
after  this,  perhaps,  the  extreme  darks,  such  as  cast  shadows  ;  then  the  larger 
masses  of  half  lights  and  half  darks.  The  form  and  distribution  of  the  masses 
of  light  are  of  primary  importance. 

In  practice,  it  will  be  necessary  to  study  light  and  shade  in  two  parts  :  first, 
the  simple  effect  of  every  individual  object ;  then  the  general  arrangement  of 
the  lights  and  darks,  whether  accidental  or  not.  Objects  nearest  the  eye 
have  the  most  brilliant  lights,  the  darkest  shades,  and  the  deepest  shadow, 
all  of  which  diminish  in  power  as  they  recede  from  the  eye ;  to  this  degra- 
dation of  power,  white  forms  the  only  exception. 

CAST  SHADOWS, 

Whether  of  individual  objects  in  the  picture,  or  of  extended  objects,  as  clouds, 
out  of  the  line  of  vision,  are  very  useful  in  indicating  the  shape  of  the  surface 
on  which  they  are  thrown,  by  defining  more  distinctly  the  undulation  of  the 
ground,  by  seeming  to  hide  unnecessary  or  ugly  forms,  and  by  supporting 
the  lines  of  the  composition,  where  the  outlines  of  the  objects  themselves 
are  not  sufficient  for  this  purpose. 

The  aerial  perspective  of  all  receding  roads,  paths,  or  streams  is  greatly 
assisted  by  shadows  thrown  across  them. 

The  style  in  this  branch  of  art,  as  in  other  branches,  is  dependent  upon 
our  appreciation  of  nature,  upon  the  impression  she  conveys  to  us,  and  the 
manner  in  which  we  use  our  technical  materials.  Nature  has  no  particular 
style  ;  she  is  perfect  under  every  circumstance  ;  and  the  lessons  which  she 
gives  the  student  will  be  differently  received  according  to  his  perception  and 
feeling.  By  some  she  will  be  most  esteemed  in  detail,  by  others  when  gen- 
eralized ;  many  will  specially  appreciate  her  forms,  while  others  will  become 
devotees  at  her  shrine  of  color.  It  is  well  to  copy  from  good  works,  but  only 
as  a  help,  to  teach  us  to  see  and  understand  nature. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  process  of  water-color  painting  is  very 
different  from  that  of  oil  painting,  in  which  we  begin  with  the  colors  of  the 
shadows  and  shades  ;  while  when  painting  in  water-colors,  we  have  to  begin 
with  the  lights,  and  so  work  towards  the  darks  and  shadows.  Pure  colors  are 
used  only  in  a  very  small  portion  of  any  single  object,  or,  indeed,  of  a  whole 
picture,  which  is  only  in  its  primitive  state  so  long  as  it  is  out  of  the  influ- 
ence of  strong  light,  shadow,  or  reflection.  When  acted  upon  by  either,  it 
becomes  changed,  and  assumes  a  different  hue. 

Both  beauty  and  interest  may  be  given  to  simple  objects.  The  more  un- 
pretending the  object,  the  more  will  our  knowledge  of  nature  and  art  be 
called  into  action.  Good  drawing,  a  beautiful  disposition  of  line,  truthfulness 
of  coloring,  with  breadth  of  light  and  shadow,  are  necessary  to  render  such 


Water-Color  Painting. 


lOI 


objects  interesting ;  for  although  the  effect  as  a  whole  is  harmonious,  and  the 
eye  is  impressed  with  a  singleness  of  character  as  to  color,  yet  upon  a  careful 
examination  it  will  be  found  to  possess  almost  every  variety  of  tone  and  tint 
that  can  be  brought  together.  Prettiness  of  execution  is  to  be  avoided, 
especially  if  made  attractive  for  itself.  The  whole  subject  should  be  so  rep- 
resented that  it  will  claim  attention  before  the  colors,  the  touches,  or  their 
handling. 

If  a  building  is  to  be  introduced  in  the  picture,  it  may  in  some  cases  be 
well  to  put  in  the  first  washes  of  it  before  attending  to  the  sky,  for  the 
reason  that  we  then  see  better  where  those  lights  fall  that  are  indispensable 
to  the  subject.  A  scene  must  always  be  completely  realized  in  imagination 
before  it  can  be  depicted  upon  the  paper  with  any  hope  of  success ;  then, 
having  the  paper  properly  stretched,  and  all  materials  at  hand  that  are  re- 
quired for  finishing  the  sketch,  an  accurate  and  light  outline  in  pencil  should 
be  made.  A  slight  outline  should  be  given  to  clouds,  and  their  position 
should  be  correctly  given  as  to  altitude  and  size.  Having  completed  the 
outline,  before  any  tint  or  color  be  applied,  the  paper  should  be  damped  with 
water ;  blotting-paper  may  be  applied  to  remove  the  excess  if  time  is  an 
object. 

Have  the  brush  well  charged  with  color,  and  begin  at  the  top,  either  to  the 
right  or  left,  and  before  exhausting  the  contents  of  the  brush  take  a  fresh  sup- 
ply, and  so  continue  till  the  whole  space  is  covered.  Instead  of  afterwards 
reducing  the  strength  of  color  by  softening  with  water,  it  is  safer  to  work  up 
to  required  strength  by  means  of  two  or  more  repeated  tints.  (The  brush 
must  not  be  too  full ;  if  so,  the  color  separates  from  the  water,  and  is  so 
precipitated  as  to  form  dark  spots  upon  the  surface  of  the  paper.  Force  of 
handling  must  be  employed  to  make  the  tints  lie  evenly,  and  so  prevent  ex- 
cess.) First,  tint  the  entire  surface  ;  second,  turn  the  drawing  upside-down, 
and  begin  with  water,  adding  color  by  degrees  until  its  full  power  is  reached 
towards  the  top  ;  third,  repeat  the  same  process,  but  a  little  Chinese  white 
may  be  added  with  advantage  to  obtain  greater  delicacy. 

Should  the  first  and  second  tints  be  unequally  laid  on,  wash  the  whole 
with  a  brush  and  plain  water ;  and  if  this  should  be  insufficient,  use  a  soft 
piece  of  sponge  transversely,  so  as  to  prevent  any  direction  of  line  being 
formed.  The  sponge  must  never  be  employed  until  the  first  washing  is  given 
with  a  brush. 

Where  depth  is  combined  with  lightness,  washing  off  with  plain  water  will 
be  attended  with  much  benefit,  as  a  very  thin  tint  applied  afterwards  will 
renew  strength,  provided  that  the  edges  and  outlines  of  the  several  washes 
always  are  preserved.  This  of  course  cannot  be  done  out-of-doors,  as  tint 
upon  tint  must  be  put  on  rapidly,  lest  the  effects  to  be  rendered  should  pass 
away,  and  the  opportunity  be  lost. 

The  colors  once  used  should  not  be  retouched  until  quite  dry.  In  laying 
in  the  first  tints  of  clouds,  a  certain  degree  of  boldness  is  desirable,  so  that 
their  forms  may  be  left  with  well-defined  edges,  which  are  essential  to  their 
character  as  clouds.    Great  attention  must  be  paid  to  the  first  tints  at  this 


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stage  of  the  drawing.  When  dry,  washes  appear  rather  lighter  and  cooler  than 
they  did  while  wet ;  they  also  lose  by  contrast  with  the  more  powerful  colors 
in  the  foreground.  When  painting  a  sky,  colors  should  be  mixed  in  sufficient 
quantities  to  complete  each  tint.  Distance  sometimes  must  be  blended  with 
the  sky ;  if  consisting  of  foliage  only,  it  must  be  represented  in  masses, 
without  any  expression  of  detail.  The  character  of  the  forms  of  distant  moun- 
tains may  be  indicated  by  using  a  brush  of  medium  size,  with  perhaps  some 
thick  cobalt,  and  dragging  it  at  the  side  to  express  the  several  distances.  It 
is  a  difficult  operation,  and  it  will  be  better  to  try  it  once  or  twice  on  a  spare 
piece  of  paper  before  trying  it  upon  the  drawing.  A  warm  tone  may  be 
given  to  those  parts  requiring  it  by  washing  them  over  with  Naples  yellow 
and  rose  madder. 

In  mountains,  the  first  thing  to  be  sought  for  is  accuracy  of  outline.  All 
mountain  forms  possess  a  greater  or  less  dignity,  while  they  at  the  same  time 
have  their  own  shapes  and  peculiarities.  The  whole  is  made  up  of  parts ; 
each  of  these  parts  engages  the  attention  of  the  eye  and  conveys  a  certain 
impression  to  the  mind.  The  magnitude  and  vastness  of  mountain  scenery 
is  difficult  to  represent  and  is  seldom  successfully  rendered. 

In  the  representation  of  foliage,  there  is  considerable  difficulty  in  giving 
the  idea  of  leaves,  which  of  course  is  the  chief  thing  to  aim  at-  The  great 
secret  lies,  without  doubt,  in  the  outside  touch,  and  the  distribution  of  lights 
between  the  branches.  The  shadows  are  put  in  by  separate  touches,  with 
still  thicker  color  than  in  the  first  washes,  the  brush  being  well  lifted  from 
the  paper  at  every  stroke,  so  that  a  certain  crispness  may  be  kept  up  through- 
out ;  this  must  be  done  in  treating  clouds  as  well,  but  particularly  in  render- 
ing foliage.  Every  touch  must  follow  in  the  direction  of  the  branch,  and 
separate  the  light  from  the  shadow. 

Decision  of  touch,  crispness  of  outline,  and  correctness  of  color,  are  neces- 
sities in  tree  painting.  In  trees  we  may  consider  three  degrees  of  shadow 
after  the  first  flat  wash,  —  first,  those  which  are  broad  leaving  only  the  high- 
est lights  ;  second,  those  which  mark  the  general  forms  of  shadow ;  and 
third,  those  which  consist  of  a  few  characteristic  and  deep  touches.  When 
rough  paper  is  used,  a  little  ox-gall  will  be  found  useful  to  make  the  touches 
take  more  easily  ;  but  very  Httle  is  required  to  effect  this.  For  representing 
water  or  the  general  surface  of  water,  the  brush  should  be  used  horizontally, 
and  for  reflection  perpendicularly.  In  all  touches  of  dark  color,  as  in  the 
shadows  of  buildings,  ruins,  etc.,  the  action  of  the  hand  should  be  quick  and 
firm,  the  brush  being  lifted  from  the  paper  at  each  stroke  ;  attention  to  this 
will  give  transparency  —  a  quality  that  is  essential  to  shadow. 

The  middle  distance  is  a  very  difficult  portion  of  a  picture  to  manage  well. 
If  the  local  color  of  objects  begins  to  show  itself  in  the  endeavor  to  produce 
depth,  atmosphere  is  lost,  and  if  efforts  be  made  to  restore  it  the  result  is  too 
often  insipid  and  weak.  The  great  secret  lies  in  the  avoidance  of  crude, 
harsh  colors  and  lines  ;  nevertheless  there  must  always  be  decision  of  form 
in  everything,  however  faintly  it  may  be  given.  So  far  as  color  is  concerned 
it  must  be  more  or  less  broken,  and  mixed  with  the  prevailing  tone  of  the 


Water-Color  Painting. 


103 


atmosphere,  whether  in  light  or  in  shadow.  Single  washes  will  seldom  effect 
this  ;  recourse  must  be  had  to  frequent  glazings  in  order  to  give  depth  and 
transparency  ;  for  where  light  diminishes,  transparency  increases,  —  a  fact 
generally  overlooked. 

The  task  to  be  accomplished  in  the  foreground  is  to  produce  breadth,  with 
repeated  changes  of  color  and  multiplicity  of  form.  The  general  effect  should 
be  aimed  at,  and  at  last  a  few  deep  touches  or  markings  should  be  put  in  to 
give  vigor  and  power.  Life  and  action  are  entirely  dependent  upon  figures, 
and  by  a  judicious  arrangement  of  them,  and  their  suitability  to  the  subject, 
a  landscape,  otherwise  void  of  interest,  is  frequently  made  to  assume  a  most 
beautiful  and  attractive  character.  Each  subject  should  have  that  class  of 
figures  best  adapted  to  it ;  and  each  time  of  day  should  have  a  corresponding 
occupation,  such  as  going  to  labor,  laboring,  and  returning  from  labor  ;  each 
will  thus  have  a  particular  tale  to  tell,  and  will  have  additional  interest.  Size 
and  dimensions  are  also  given  by  the  introduction  of  figures  ;  they  serve  as 
a  standard  of  comparison  whereby  every  other  object  can  be  measured. 
Some  scenes  require  a  numerous  assemblage,  while  others  are  unsuited  to 
more  than  one  figure,  and  that  one  contemplative.  It  matters  little  how  many 
or  how  few  the  figures  are,  provided  they  are  well  adapted  to  the  subject,  and 
so  placed  that  the  general  effect  is  enhanced  by  them.  As  regards  color  the 
chief  requirement  is  that  those  colors  should  be  selected  which  are  suited  to 
the  general  tone  of  the  landscape,  and  that  they  should  be  placed  in  positions 
where  power  and  concentration  are  needed. 

Cattle  also  give  a  great  charm  to  landscape  scenery  ;  with  figures  they  form 
most  pleasing  groups  ;  their  colors  are  rich  and  dark,  and  their  purity  is  thus 
enhanced.  Flowers,  fruit,  and  still  life  are  good  objects  for  the  study  of  color, 
and  possess  the  advantage  of  being  procurable  at  almost  any  time. 

Fine  paintings  of  well-arranged  groups  of  fruit  and  flowers  have  often  a 
great  charm,  but  they  are  of  very  little  importance  unless  of  great  excellence. 

A  little  skill  in  this  class  of  subjects  is  not  regarded,  while  the  same  skill 
or  amount  of  knowledge  in  landscape  painting  is  an  unvarying  source  of  pleas- 
ure, and  often  gives  delight  by  recalling  scenes  which  would  be  forgotten 
without  pleasing  mementoes  in  the  form  of  sketches. 

Earthenware,  jars,  and  pitchers,  grouped  with  drapery,  wooden  tubs,  and 
other  objects  of  still  life,  are  the  most  choice  subjects  for  the  landscape 
student.  The  color  and  effect  of  light  on  those  objects  is  very  beautiful  and 
offers  great  variety  ;  it  is,  moreover,  of  that  kind  which  appears  in  a  natural 
scene.  One  who  is  accustomed  to  make  good  sketches  of  such  materials  will 
find  but  little  difficulty  in  the  management  of  pigments  when  sketching  out-of- 
doors.  The  art  of  disposing  the  folds  of  drapery  forms  a  very  considerable 
part  of  the  painter's  study.  Carlo  Maratta  was  of  opinion  that  the  disposition 
of  drapery  was  even  a  more  difficult  art  than  that  of  drawing  the  human  fig- 
ure ;  he  thought  that  a  student  might  be  more  easily  taught  the  latter  than 
the  former,  as  the  rules  of  drapery  were,  in  his  opinion,  more  difficult  to 
ascertain  than  those  for  delineating  a  correct  form. 

To  paint  drapery  as  it  happens  to  fall  is  a  mechanical  operation,  which  re- 


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quires  neither  genius  nor  taste,  whereas  the  nicest  judgment  is  required  to 
dispose  it  so  that  the  folds  shall  have  an  easy  communication,  and  while 
gracefully  following  each  other  with  such  natural  negligence  as  to  look  like 
the  effect  of  chance,  shall  show  the  figure  under  them  to  the  utmost  advan- 
tage. It  is  well  understood  that  great  attention  must  be  paid  to  our  first 
studies  ;  simple  as  objects  may  seem,  if  carefully  studied,  they  can  teach  us 
much  that  will  in  future  time  be  very  useful,  and  prove  sound  foundation  for 
any  higher  branch  of  art  that  we  may  enter  upon. 


lempera  Painting. 


105 


XIIL 

TEMPERA  PAINTING. 

The  original  meaning  and  the  accepted  sense  of  the  word  "  tempera,"  or 
its  English  equivalent,  distemper,  have  already  been  given.  In  its  original 
sense  Milton  so  used  it  when  he  wrote,  — 

"  I  shall  temper  so 
Justice  with  mercy  as  may  illustrate  most 
Them  fully  satisfied  and  these  appease," 

The  accepted  sense  of  the  word  is  purely  technical,  and  to  it  alone  are  we 
to  confine  ourselves  in  this  paper. 

We  find  that  real  fresco  painting  is  a  very  difficult  art,  and  that  the  great 
masters  sometimes  finished  in  tempera  what  they  began  in  fresco.  Now,  as 
the  tendency  to  magnify  our  occupation  is  a  natural  one,  it  is  not  strange  to 
find  the  term  retained  after  the  method  was  abandoned  for  the  easier  and 
surer,  but  less  durable  one  of  tempera.  We  talk  of  frescoing  our  rooms 
when  we  mean  decorating  them  in  tempera  or  distemper.  Our  fresco  painters 
do  not  paint  in  fresco,  i.  e.  upon  fresh  plaster,  with  water  and  lime  as  a 
medium,  but  upon  dry  walls,  with  glue-size  or  oil  as  a  medium.  We  have 
been  told  (p.  21)  the  nature  of  the  medium  used  in  former  times.  That  in 
most  general  use  at  the  present  time,  for  large  work,  is  made  from  glue,  an 
animal  substance,  obtained  by  boiling  hides,  hoofs,  and  tendons  of  animals. 
A  gelatine  obtained  from  fish  is  also  used,  and  the  vegetable  gums  —  arable, 
copal,  shellac,  sandarac,  etc.  —  with  which  we  are  familiar.  These  are  the 
principal  substances  used  as  mediums,  which,  when  mixed  with  our  ordinary 
pigments,  are  employed  to  produce  works  technically  termed  tempera  or  dis- 
temper paintings. 

Having  found,  in  our  researches  for  light  upon  this  topic,  a  volume  of 
"  quaint  and  curious  lore,"  which  reveals  not  only  the  technicalities  of  tem- 
pera, but  also  gives  us  glimpses  of  the  inner  life  of  the  old  masters,  their 
religious  enthusiasm  and  faith,  their  difficulties  in  preparation  for  the  execu- 
tion of  their  great  works,  we  give  some  extracts  from  a  work  entitled  "  Trea- 
tise on  Painting,  written  by  Cennino  Cennini,  in  1437,  first  published  in 
182 1,  and  translated  by  Mrs.  Merrifield,  in  1844,"  thinking  they  may  be  in- 
teresting if  not  profitable.  The  introduction  to  the  first  chapter  commences  : 
14 


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Here  begins  the  book  on  the  art,  made  and  composed  by  Cennino  de 
Calle,  in  the  reverence  of  God  and  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  of  St.  Eusta- 
chius,  and  of  St.  Francis,  and  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  and  of  St.  Anthony  of 
Padua,  and  generally  of  all  the  Saints  of  God,  and  in  the  reverence  of  Giotto 
of  Taddeo,  and  of  Agnolo,  the  masters  of  Cennino,  and  for  the  utility  and 
good  and  advantage  of  those  who  would  attain  perfection  in  the  arts." 

Then  follows  an  account  of  the  creation  and  of  the  temptation  and  fall  of 
Adam,  in  which  the  author  is  particular  to  put  the  blame  upon  Eve.  He  also 
tells  how  Adam  had  to  earn  his  bread  by  digging,  and  Eve  by  spinning,  and 
traces  the  successive  development  of  the  sciences  and  the  arts.  He  crowns 
painting  with  poetry,  and  says  :  "  To  the  painter  is  given  liberty  to  compose 
a  figure  either  upright  or  sitting,  or  half  man,  half  horse,  as  he  pleases, 
according  to  his  fancy." 

He  then  proceeds  to  tell  us  by  what  authority  he  speaks  upon  this  great 
topic,  in  the  following  words  :  — 

"  I,  Cennino,  son  of  Andrea  Cennini,  born  in  the  Calle  di  Valdelsa,  was 
instructed  in  these  arts  for  twelve  years  by  Agnolo,  son  of  Taddeo,  of  Flor- 
ence, my  master,  who  learned  the  art  from  Taddeo,  his  father,  the  godson  of 
Giotto,  whose  disciple  he  had  been  for  twenty-four  years. 

"  This  Giotto  introduced  the  Greek  manner  of  painting  among  the  Latins 
and  united  it  to  the  modern  school,  and  the  art  became  more  perfect  than  it 
had  ever  been  before.  In  order  to  assist  all  those  who  are  desirous  of  acquir- 
ing this  art,  I  shall  make  notes  of  all  that  was  taught  me  by  my  master, 
Agnolo,  and  which  I  have  proved  by  my  own  hands,  invoking  first  the  high 
omnipotent  God,  that  is  to  say,  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit ;  secondly, 
that  most  delightful  advocate  of  all  sinners,  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  St.  Luke, 
the  Evangelist,  the  first  Christian  painter,  and  my  advocate,  St.  Eustachius, 
and  generally  all  the  saints,  male  and  female,  of  Paradise.  Amen." 

Chapter  IV  is  devoted  to  an  enumeration  of  the  things  to  be  learned, 
under  the  two  divisions  of  drawing  and  coloring.  It  tells  first,  how  to  grind 
colors  ;  second,  how  to  use  glue  ;  third,  how  to  fasten  cloth  on  the  panel ; 
fifth,  how  to  prime  with  chalk  ;  sixth,  how  to  smooth  the  surface  of  the  ground 
of  the  picture  ;  seventh,  how  to  polish  it ;  eighth,  how  to  make  relievos  in 
plaster  ;  ninth,  how  to  use  bole  ;  tenth,  how  to  gild  ;  eleventh,  how  to  bur- 
nish ;  twelfth,  how  to  temper  colors  ;  thirteenth,  how  to  lay  flat  colors  ;  four- 
teenth, how  to  powder  a  drawing  ;  fifteenth,  how  to  scrape  ;  sixteenth,  how 
to  engrave  gilding  ;  seventeenth,  how  to  rule  lines,  and  how  to  color,  to 
adorn,  and  to  varnish  pictures. 

These  items  reveal  to  us  some  of  the  material  difiiculties  under  which  the 
artist  labored  in  those  days,  —  difficulties  which  science  and  art,  through 
the  division  of  labor,  have  removed  out  of  our  path. 

Chapter  VII  treats  of  the  proper  kind  of  bones  for  priming  pictures.  The 
author  says,  "  For  this  purpose  take  the  bones  of  the  ribs  and  wings  of  fowls, 
and  the  older  they  are  the  better.  When  you  find  them  under  the  table,  put 
them  into  the  fire  ;  and  when  you  see  they  are  becoming  whiter  than  ashes, 
take  them  out,  and  grind  them  well  on  the  porphyry  slab,  and  keep  the 
powder  for  use." 


Tempera  Painting. 


107 


The  next  fifty  chapters  are  devoted  to  the  preparation  of  paper  and  parch- 
ment, and  to  drawing  from  models  and  nature. 

Then  follow  thirty  chapters  devoted  to  pigments  and  their  preparation  ; 
brushes,  and  how  to  make  them,  which  make  the  modern  reader  rejoice  that 
Winsor  and  Newton  live  in  our  day. 

In  chapter  LXX,  which  is  headed  "The  Proportions  of  the  Human  Fig- 
ure," Cennino  says  :  — 

"  Before  I  proceed  further,  I  will  make  you  acquainted  with  the  propor- 
tions of  a  man.  I  omit  those  of  a  woman  because  there  is  not  one  of  them 
perfectly  proportioned.  The  face  is  divided  into  three  parts  :  the  forehead 
one,  the  nose  another,  and  from  the  nose  to  the  chin  a  third  ;  from  the 
edge  of  the  nose,  the  whole  length  of  the  eye,  one  part ;  from  the  corner  of 
the  eye  to  the  ear,  one  part,  etc.  The  length  of  a  man  is  equal  to  his 
width  with  his  arms  extended.  A  man  has  on  his  left  side  one  rib  less  than 
a  woman.  Men  should  be  dark,  women  fair,  etc.  I  shall  not  speak  of 
irrational  animals,  as  they  appear  to  have  no  certain  proportions.  Draw 
them  as  frequently  as  you  can,  and  you  will  ascertain  for  yourselves." 

Part  Fifth,  Chapter  CIV,  thus  opens  with  good  advice  as  to  patience  in 
acquiring  the  art :  — 

*'  Know  that  you  cannot  learn  to  paint  in  less  time  than  that  which  I  shall 
name  to  you.  In  the  first  place  you  must  study  drawing  for  at  least  one 
year  ;  then  you  must  remain  with  a  master  in  the  workshop  for  the  space  of 
six  years  at  least,  that  you  may  learn  to  grind  the  colors,  boil  glue,  etc.  etc. 
Afterward  to  practise  coloring  and  paint  on  walls  for  six  more  years,  drawing 
without  intermission  on  holidays  and  workdays.  By  this  means  you  will 
acquire  experience.    If  you  do  otherwise,  you  will  never  attain  perfection." 

The  next  forty  chapters  are  devoted  to  recipes  for  various  kinds  of  glue, 
colors,  etc.  Then  the  author  proceeds  to  tell  how  to  color  and  to  temper  the 
colors,  and  says,  "  Now,  by  the  grace  of  God,  I  should  like  to  teach  you  to 
color  pictures.  You  must  know  that  pairfting  is  the  proper  employment  of  a 
gentleman,  and  that,  with  velvet  on  his  back,  he  may  paint  what  he  pleases. 
It  is  true  that  pictures  are  painted  in  the  same  manner  as  fresco,  with  three 
exceptions  :  one  is,  that  you  must  always  paint  the  draperies  and  buildings 
before  you  paint  the  faces  ;  the  second  is,  that  you  must  temper  your  colors 
with  the  yolk  of  egg,  always  putting  as  much  of  the  yolk  as  of  the  color  you 
would  temper  with  it ;  third,  that  the  colors  must  be  ground  very  fine,  like 
water  (that  is,  to  an  impalpable  powder)." 

But  we  will  not  quote  further.  This  treatise  has  revealed  to  us  the  meth- 
ods of  those  early  days  as  no  other  work  we  have  met  has  done.  Leaving 
the  generalities  and  rhapsodies  of  most  writers,  the  author  takes  us  into  his 
confidence  and  tells  us  the  secrets  of  the  trade,  dropping  expressions  inad- 
vertently which  reveal  the  condition  of  civilization  four  hundred  and  fifty  years 
ago,  —  revealing  also  that  strong  religious  spirit  which  actuated  the  times. 
It  closes  with  these  words  :  — 

"  Praying  that  the  most  high  God,  our  Lady,  St.  John,  St.  Luke  the  evan- 
gelist and  painter,  St.  Eustachius,  St.  Francis,  and  St.  Anthony  of  Padua, 


io8 


The  Antcfix  Papers. 


may  give  us  grace  and  strength  to  bear  in  peace  the  cares  and  labors  of  this 
world,  and  that  to  those  who  study  this  book,  they  will  give  grace  to  study  it 
well  and  retain  it,  so  that  by  the  sweat  of  their  brows  they  may  live  peaceably 
and  maintain  their  families  in  this  world  with  grace,  and  finally,  in  that  which 
is  to  come,  live  with  glory  for  ever  and  ever.  Amen." 

From  the  old  world  and  the  old  masters,  let  us-  for  a  moment  turn  our 
thoughts  to  the  new  world  and  to  living  artists.*  We  called  a  few  days  since 
upon  Mr.  McPherson,  whose  establishment  on  Tremont  Street  is  well  worth 
a  visit,  to  learn  how  tempera  painting  is  done  at  the  present  day.  Mr. 
McPherson  served  his  apprenticeship  with  Mr.  Hay  of  Scotland,  whose  works 
upon  color  are  standard  authorities.  When  he  came  here,  twenty-five  years 
ago,  he  found  but  little  demand  for  his  services  ;  but  the  progress  has  been 
rapid,  till  now,  in  busy  times,  he  says  he  has  a  hundred  and  fifty  men  on  his 
pay-roll,  and  that  there  is  a  demand  for  his  services  in  all  the  large  cities  of 
the  country. 

In  reply  to  the  question  how  he  would  decorate  the  walls  of  a  given 
room  in  tempera,  in  a  private  house,  he  said  he  should  first  have  the 
owner  select  the  furniture  and  carpets  ;  then  he  would  take  into  account 
the  use  for  which  the  room  was  intended,  —  whether  for  a  drawing,  sitting, 
or  dining  room  ;  then  the  aspect,  —  i.  e.  whether  it  had  a  northern  or  a  south- 
ern exposure.  Having  as  data  the  color  and  character  of  the  furniture,  the 
use  and  the  aspect  of  the  room,  he  studies  to  use  such  colors  and  designs  as 
will  blend  and  harmonize  everything  in  it,  and  give  it  that  cheerful,  homelike 
air  which  is  more  easily  comprehended  and  felt  than  described  in  words. 

Behind  the  scenes  of  the  Boston  Theatre,  amidst  a  wilderness  of  ropes, 
pulleys,  trap-doors,  etc.,  we  found  Mr.  Getz,  the  scene-painter  of  that  estab- 
lishment ;  and,  as  with  all  artists  and  artisans,  we  found  him  very  obliging, 
and  apparently  pleased  to  impart  all  the  information  in  his  power  respecting 
his  profession,  in  which  he  seemed  an  enthusiast.  He  said  a  good  scene- 
painter  must  be  master  of  landscape,  portrait,  figure,  and  historic  painting ; 
he  must  understand  the  laws  of  effects,  and  so  design  his  scenes  that  when 
they  serve  as  backgrounds  to  the  forms  of  living  actors  they  may  be  neutral 
and  subdued,  and  not  overpowering  in  their  effect.  Scene-painting  is  pure 
tempera,  — perhaps  the  only  pure  tempera  now  practised. 


Fresco  Painting,  109 


XIV. 

FRESCO  PAINTING. 

Keats  says,  "  A  thing  of  beauty  is  a  joy  forever.  Its  loveliness  increases  ; 
it  will  never  pass  into  nothingness."  And  looking  back  over  the  centuries 
that  have  preceded  this,  we  see  the  truth  of  the  poet's  words.  Apparently 
impressed  with  the  beauties  of  nature,  man  everywhere  seeks  to  imitate,  to 
the  best  of  his  ability,  those  beauties  which  he  sees  about  him  ;  and  from  the 
earliest  ages  to  the  present  time  has  given  evidence  of  his  spirit  of  decoration. 
Upon  the  mummy-cases  of  the  Egyptians  we  find  picture  writing  combined 
with  other  decorations,  and  upon  the  walls  of  their  temples  and  other  build- 
ings other  evidences  of  their  love  of  ornament  are  to  be  found.  The  Greeks, 
Etruscans,  and  Romans  also  have  left  us  more  or  less  perfect  examples  of 
their  handiwork,  while  modern  nations  add  their  works  as  testimony  to  the 
universality  of  this  love  of  the  beautiful. 

To  the  already  mentioned  practice  of  writing  on  and  decorating  the  walls 
of  tombs  and  buildings,  we  are  indebted  for  a  great  part  of  our  knowledge 
of  ancient  history  and  art ;  and  from  these  and  other  ruins  of  times  long 
past,  it  appears  that  the  ancients  were  acquainted  with  several  methods  of 
painting  upon  wall  surfaces,  and  had  discovered  that  any  coloring  substance 
mixed  with  plaster  while  wet  would  remain  in  it  when  dry. 

Whether  this  painting  of  the  ancients  is  what  is  now  known  as  true 
fresco,  is  questioned,  and  we  have  no  satisfactory  ancient  authority  upon  the 
subject. 

The  term  fresco  is  an  Italian  word,  signifying  fresh,  and  that  method  of 
painting  has  already  been  described  (p.  20). 

Mural  paintings  were  executed  upon  plaster  of  various  kinds,  laid  upon 
walls  variously  constructed,  and  several  examples  occur  of  frescos  which 
were  painted  upon  plaster  laid  upon  lathing. 

Mr.  Charles  H.  Wilson,  some  years  ago,  was  employed  by  the  Commis- 
sioners of  Fine  Arts  of  England  to  collect  information  relating  to  the  objects 
of  the  commission,  and  in  his  report  he  gives  an  account  of  the  different 
kinds  of  walls  appropriate  for  fresco  painting,  and  describes  its  technical 
processes.  Of  painted  walls,  he  says,  "The  oldest  examples  are  to  be  found 
in  Italian  Gothic  structures,  such  as  the  Church  of  Assisi  and  the  Cathedrals 
of  Orvieto  and  Siena."    In  the  first  of  these  churches  there  are  numerous 


no 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


specimens  of  the  earliest  application  of  the  revived  art  of  painting  upon 
walls.  In  the  others,  instances  also  occur  which,  although  less  important, 
may  be  mentioned  in  illustration  of  the  subject. 

The  interiors  of  the  above-mentioned  buildings  are  finished  in  fine 
masonry ;  the  walls,  externally  and  internally,  have  ashlar  facings,  with  a 
heart  of  rubble.  In  some  instances  the  walls  are  of  marble,  in  others  of 
stone,  in  others,  again,  of  brick  ;  but  in  every  case  the  mere  workmanship  is 
very  fine.  When,  at  a  subsequent  period,  the  ashlar  walls  of  these  buildings 
were  covered  with  paintings,  one,  or,  at  most,  two  very  thin  coats  of  plaster 
were  laid  on,  —  sometimes  formed  of  lime  and  sand,  at  other  times  of  lime 
and  marble  dust,  —  and  the  pictures  were  painted  upon  these  grounds.  They 
were,  in  most  cases,  commenced  when  the  plaster  was  wet ;  but  as,  from  its 
thinness,  such  plaster  would  dry  very  rapidly,  the  pictures  were  finished  in 
distemper,  and  cannot*  be  called  frescos  ;  and  it  may  be  inferred  that  this 
mixed  art  was  a  result  of  painting  on  coats  of  plaster,  necessarily  laid  thin, 
as  thicker  coats  would  have  destroyed  the  proportions  of  the  building,  which 
were  already  completed  in  stone  or  brick. 

With  the  revival  of  classic  taste  a. decline  in  constructive  skill  may  be 
remarked,  or,  at  least,  the  introduction  of  a  very  careless  practice,  namely, 
the  retaining  of  the  rubble  and  external  ashlar  facing,  while  the  internal 
facing  was  done  away  with  and  plaster  was  substituted  for  it.  Internal  walls 
were  frequently  so  built  as  not  to  be  at  right  angles  to  each  other,  sometimes 
not  perpendicular,  and  in  all  cases  were  very  uneven  on  the  surface,  being 
generally  built  of  mixed  and  indifferent  materials,  the  fragments,  apparently, 
of  former  buildings,  such  as  small  stones,  broken  bricks,  and  even  bits  of  tile. 
Many  fine  works  of  art  are  painted  upon  walls  built  in  this  manner,  and  thus 
the  inequality  of  their  surfaces,  which  has  been  so  often  remarked  and 
accounted  for  in  so  many  ways,  is  readily  explained.  At  times  the  inequality 
is  increased,  indeed,  by  the  actual  bulging  of  the  intonaco,  or  last  coat  of 
plaster.  This,  again,  is  the  result  of  bad  workmanship,  as  in  most  cases  no 
pains  were  taken  to  give  the  intonaco  a  key  to  the  mortar  beneath.  Neither 
the  Germans  or  Italians  score  or  mark  the  plaster  so  as  to  give  the  intonaco  or 
upper  coat  a  hold,  though  the  former  use  a  precaution  which  is  more  effectual, 
namely,  that  of  mixing  coarse  gravel  with  the  first  coats. 

We  find,  then,  that  pictures  were  painted  on  three  kinds  of  wall,  —  on  the 
ashlar  walls  of  Gothic  edifices,  on  brick  walls  of  buildings  of  different  dates, 
and  upon  coarsely-built  rubble  walls  of  different  kinds.  To  these  are  to  be 
added  frescos  upon  lath  of  which  there  are  many  examples  in  different  parts 
of  Italy. 

The  paintings  upon  ashlar  walls  do  not  appear  to  be  as  durable  as  those 
painted  upon  walls  constructed  in  a  different  manner ;  the  intonaco,  although 
remaining  fast  to  the  first  coat,  often  separates  from  the  wall,  the  joints  or 
seams  between  the  stones  not  being  open  enough  to  give  a  good  key  to  the 
plaster.  In  warm  weather  the  moisture  condenses  on  these  walls  and  causes 
the  plaster  to  fall  away  in  large  masses.  Another  source  of  injury  to  the 
plaster  is  that  when  the  walls  act  as  buttresses  to  resist  the  thrust  of  the 


Fresco  Painting. 


Ill 


great  transept  arches,  when  the  plaster  falls  off  in  large  masses  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  thrust.  Examples  of  painting  on  this  kind  of  wall  may  be  seen  in 
the  Church  of  St.  Francis  at  Assisi,  the  Chapel  of  the  Sacrament  at  Orvieto, 
and  in  the  Cathedral  of  Sinea. 

The  pictures  of  Spinello  Aretino  in  St.  Miniato  at  Florence  are  specimens 
of  an  early  date  and  in  perfect  preservation  ;  these  are  upon  brick  walls  which 
are  evidently  dry,  and  being  well  built,  the  surface  of  the  paintings  is  even  ; 
thus  they  are  not  injured  by  dust  settling  upon  them.  This  kind  of  wall 
appears  to  be  the  best  for  painting,  for  in  nearly  every  case  examined  by  Mr. 
Wilson  he  says,  "  The  pictures  upon  brick  walls  were  in  an  excellent  state  of 
preservation."  The  picture  by  Giotto  in  the  Chapel  of  the  Scrovegni,  the 
paintings  in  the  library  of  the  Cathedral  of  Siena ;  the  frescos  of  the  later 
Florentine  masters  in  the  cloisters  of  several  of  the  convents  in  Florence, 
and  of  a  later  date  the  numerous  frescos  of  the  Carracci  and  their  scholars, 
may  be  instanced  as  proving  the  durability  of  fresco  ;  all  are  on  brick,  and  in 
all  the  plastering  is  excellent.  To  the  above  may  be  added  the  frescoed 
ceilings  at  Genoa ;  nearly  all  are  on  brick  vaults,  and  nearly  all  in  perfect 
preservation. 

Unfortunately  some  of  the  most  precious  works  of  the  great  masters  are 
upon  rubble  walls,  and  to  this  their  dilapidated  state  is  in  a  great  measure  to 
be  attributed. 

There  are  instances  of  such  extensive  ruin  that  the  cause  of  the  uneven- 
ness  of  the  frescos  is  evident,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  same  effect  inva- 
riably proceeds  from  the  same  cause.  It  is  quite  out  of  the  question  to  suppose 
that  the  wall  behind  frescos  painted  upon  solid  but  uneven  surfaces,  can  be 
ashlar,  nor  are  they  likely  to  be  brick,  as  examples  which  are  certainly  painted 
upon  plaster  laid  upon  brick  are  quite  even  on  the  surface  ;  and  the  external 
facings  of  brick  in  walls  where  these  uneven  frescos  are  found,  are  perfectly 
even.  Neither  does  the  unevenness  in  every  case  proceed  from  the  bulging 
of  the  intonaco,  —  which  is  easily  detected  by  tapping  it  with  the  finger,  —  for 
frescos  may  be  very  uneven  on  the  surface  and  yet  quite  solid.  In  the 
chapel  of  Saint  Cecilia  at  Bologna,  the  frescos  by  Francia  and  Costa  are 
unhappily  so  much  injured  that  the  wall  can  be  seen  in  several  places.  It  is 
evidently  of  the  coarsest  rubble  construction,  and  the  frescos  are  very  uneven 
on  the  surface. 

The  walls  of  Santa  Maria  Novello  at  Florence,  and  other  churches  and 
buildings  at  Padua,  Venice,  and  other  places,  have  all  very  uneven  surfaces, 
and  all  have  consequently  suffered  from  the  accumulation  of  dust  upon  the 
inequahties,  as  well  as  from  the  cracking  and  breaking  off  of  the  plaster,  partly 
owing  to  the  bad  masonry  and  partly  to  the  careless  way  in  which  the  mortar 
was  applied.  Where  such  remarkable  carelessness  as  to  the  quality  of  the 
masonry  is  recognized,  instead  of  being  surprised  at  the  present  state  of  the 
frescos  we  ought  rather  to  wonder  that  they  are  preserved  at  all.  Wherever 
due  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  construction  of  the  walls,  the  pictures  upon 
them  are  in  an  excellent  state  of  preservation,  or  their  dilapidation  can  be 
accounted  for  from  external  causes  which  might  have  been  guarded  against. 


112 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


Vitruvius  gives  minute  directions  for  the  construction  of  roofs  and  ceilings, 
and  the  composition  and  manner  of  plastering ;  and  Pliny  praises  the  stucco, 
which  consisted  of  three  coats  of  lime  and  sand  and  two  coats  of  lime  and 
marble  dust.  The  lime  for  these  coats  of  plaster  was  prepared  with  the 
greatest  care,  and  was  steeped  or  slaked  in  water  for  a  number  of  years  ;  it 
was  also  mixed  with  milk,  which  gave  it  more  consistency,  and  produced  a 
more  mellow  white  color. 

Alberti,  in  1452,  describes  the  same  number  of  coats,  and  says  that  the 
lime  is  not  mature  in  less  than  three  months  ;  he  had  seen  lime,  and  in  con- 
siderable quantity,  which  had  been  abandoned,  as  he  had  good  reason  to 
believe,  for  more  than  five  hundred  years,  and  yet,  when  discovered,  it  was 
found  to  be  moist  and  liquid,  and,  as  it  were,  so  ripe  that  in  its  consistency  it 
far  surpassed  honey  and  marrow.  He  adds  :  "  If  you  use  it  thus,  it  requires 
double  the  quantity  of  sand." 

Andrea  Pozzo  (1642-1709)  describes  a  similar  method  of  preparing  the 
wall,  and  says  that  the  mortar  should  be  laid  on  by  an  expert  and  active 
mason,  in  order  that  the  intonaco  maybe  spread  evenly,  and  that  the  painter 
may  have  sufficient  time  to  paint  upon  it  during  the  whole  of  that  day. 

Palomino  (1663-1726)  gives  for  the  proportions  of  the  stucco  equal  propor- 
tions of  lime  and  sand,  and  adds,  "  But  if  the  lime  has  been  rendered  mild 
by  time,  the  proportions  should  be  three  parts  of  lime  to  one  of  sand," — just 
the  opposite  of  Alberti's  recommendations. 

The  earliest  modern  writer  whose  work  has  been  preserved  is  Theophilus, 
a  monk,  who  is  supposed  to  have  lived  between  the  9th  and  13th  centuries. 
Other  writers  on  the  subject  of  fresco  painting  are  Cennini,  1437  ;  Alberti, 
1485;  Vasari,  1547;  Guevara,  1550-1559;  Borghini,  1584;  Armenini,  1587; 
Cespedes,  1608;  Pacheco,  1641  ;  Pozzo,  1 693-1 702  ;  Palomino,  1715-1724; 
Mengs,  1779.  Commencing,  therefore,  with  Theophilus,  the  above  series 
embraces  the  periods  of  its  commencement,  progress,  and  decline. 

Between  the  period  when  Cennini  wrote  his  treatise  and  the  pubhcation  of 
the  work  of  Vasari,  the  art  had  advanced  rapidly.  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  Michel- 
angelo, Raphael,  and  Correggio  had  lived  and  died.  The  Sistine  Chapel, 
the  Vatican,  and  the  Duomo  of  Parma  had  been  painted,  and  the  processes  of 
fresco  painting  had  been  changed  in  some  important  points. 

The  practice  of  indenting  the  plaster  with  the  point  or  stylus  (see  page  20) 
is  very  ancient,  and  we  find  that  the  figures  painted  in  Etruscan  tombs  were 
outlined  in  this  manner ;  that  is,  the  point  was  used  to  mark  the  external 
outline  of  the  figure  only.  It  was  employed  by  the  early  masters  on  the  revi- 
val of  art  in  Italy,  precisely  in  the  same  way,  in  outlining  their  works  in  dis- 
temper on  panels.  Thus  Giotto  and  his  followers  drew,  and  we  find  the  same 
practice  followed  in  the  Sienese  school,  with  a  singular  exception,  which  is 
that  the  figure  of  the  Madonna  is  entirely  marked  in  with  the  stylus  ;  that  is, 
not  merely  the  external  outline,  but  the  outline  of  the  folds  in  the  drapery. 
A  notice  of  this  practice,  confined  to  the  school  of  Siena,  is  useful,  as  it 
establishes  a  clear  distinction  between  the  early  pictures  of  that  school  and 
those  of  contemporary  Florentine  masters. 


Fresco  Painting, 


113 


It  is  very  remarkable  that,  whilst  the  point  was  used  in  distemper  pictures 
on  panel,  it  rarely  was  in  those  of  the  same  period  on  walls.  It  is  never 
found  in  mural  paintings  by  Cimabue,  Giotto,  Oro^agna,  or  Benozzo  Gozzoli, 
but  was  employed  by  Fra  Angelico,  in  the  architectural  backgrounds  only  of 
those  in  the  chapel  of  Nicholas  V,  in  the  Vatican. 

Perugino  pounced  all  his  outlines,  as  did  his  great  pupil  Raphael  ;  but  his 
pupils,  again,  followed  each  his  own  fancy  in  this  respect.  Raphael  did  not, 
however,  use  the  point  in  his  fine  works  in  the  Farnesina,  and  the  advantage 
is  obvious  :  for  whilst  its  convenience  makes  it  very  useful  in  works  at  a. con- 
siderable distance  from  the  spectator,  it  never  should  be  seen  in  those  which 
are  nearer  to  the  eye,  especially  if  the  light  falls  full  upon  them. 

In  studying  the  art  of  fresco  painting,  it  is  necessary  to  consult  the  works 
of  the  old  masters  for  examples  of  execution  ;  and  in  these  we  shall  find  as 
much  diversity  of  touch  and  handling  and  as  many  styles  as  may  be  observed 
in  the  works  of  the  same  artists  in  oil,  and  at  the  same  time  every  quality 
of  execution  possible  in  oil  painting,  although  in  different  degrees.  "  We 
have  transparency,  opacity,  richness  ;  we  have  thin  and  thick  painting, 
even  to  loading,  and  that  to  an  extent  that  cannot  be  contemplated  in  oil ; 
we  have  the  calm,  transparent  painting  of  the  Florentines,  the  rich  variety 
of  the  Venetians,  and,"  says  Wilson,  "  there  are  cases  in  which  the  well- 
nourished  brush  of  Rembrandt  seems  represented  in  the  works  of  the  fresco 
painters  of  old  Italian  times." 

In  preparing  the  palette  for  fresco  painting,  the  colors  should  be  put  into 
their  proper  cups  or  saucers,  with  a  spoon  for  each  ;  the  palette  should  be 
large  enough  to  mix  the  tints  with  the  brush  without  running  them  into  each 
other,  and  more  color  than  is  required  should  be  put  on  the  palette  at  once, 
that  the  color  may  not  dry  too  soon.  The  order  to  be  observed  is  to  put  in 
the  background  or  skies  which  are  behind  the  figures,  gradually  approaching 
from  them  towards  the  figures  in  the  foreground. 

The  selection  of  colors  for  painting  in  fresco  is  among  the  most  important 
parts  of  the  art.  All  the  best  authorities  are  unanimous  in  the  opinion  that 
the  natural  colors  only  are  proper  to  be  used  in  fresco  painting.  But 
although  the  natural  colors  are  neither  numerous  nor  brilliant,  yet  the  frescos 
of  Raphael,  Michelangelo,  and  others  satisfactorily  prove  that  the  colors 
used  by  them  were  amply  sufficient  for  the  purposes  of  fresco  painting. 

Some  of  these  colors  have  fallen  into  disuse,  and  the  knowledge  of  their 
value,  application,  and  use  is  in  a  great  measure  lost.  Artificial  colors  have 
for  a  long  time  been  improperly  substituted,  and  failed  of  their  object,  —  the 
consequence  being  that  the  highest  branch  of  the  art  of  painting,  and  that 
from  which  the  greatest  masters  derived  most  of  their  celebrity,  has  declined 
and  fallen  into  disuse. 

The  old  masters,  it  appears,  used  a  natural  color,  which,  when  opposed  to 
other  colors,  appeared  like  lake,  and  although  mentioned  in  terms  of  praise 
by  many  writers  on  art,  is  called  by  different  names.  Cennini  calls  it 
amatito,  and  describes  it  as  a  very  hard  and  fine  stone,  —  so  hard  that  tools 
are  made  of  it  to  burnish  gold  on  pictures.    He  recommends  it  to  be  ground 

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with  clear  water,  and  says  the  more  ground  the  better,  and  describes  the 
color  as  being  that  which  cardinals  wear,  or  a  purple  or  lake  color.  Another 
author  calls  this  color  cinnabar,  others  matita.  It  is  now  considered  that 
this  was  hematite,  a  species  of  iron  ore. 

Spanish  authors  speak  of  albin  and  pavonazzo  as  substitutes  for  carmine, 
and  observe  that  pavonazzo  was  a  degree  lower  in  tone  than  albin. 

Sinopia  is  another  color  mentioned,  and  is  described  by  Pliny  as  a  natural 
pigment,  which  derived  its  name  from  a  place  of  the  same  name. 

Among  the  blues,  we  find  caeruleum  or  vestorian  azure,  —  a  kind  of  blue 
glass,  described  by  Vitruvius  and  Pliny ;  smalto,  smaltino,  and  another  blue 
called  "  azzurro  della  magna,"  which  was  expensive,  and  is  by  some  early 
authors  supposed  to  be  cobalt  or  ultramarine,  but  later  writers  speak  of  it  as 
a  different  pigment,  because  cobalt  is  not  so  easily  obtained,  and  ultramarine 
is  by  some  not  considered  suitable  for  true  fresco. 

The  employment  of  green  colors  in  fresco  is  less  difficult  than  blues,  as 
green  is  easily  made  by  a  mixture  of  blue  and  yellow ;  and  blues  have  a  ten- 
dency to  become  green.  The  green  pigments  used  in  fresco  are  terra  verde, 
mountain  green,  and  lapis  armenus. 

Black  colors  are  among  those  that  are  found  to  be  the  least  durable  in 
fresco,  and  as  the  color  hardly  exists  in  nature,  it  should  rarely  be  used. 

The  finest  white  was  called  Bianca  Sangiovanni,  and  was  composed  of 
lime  carefully  prepared  ;  another  white  was  calcined  travertine. 

Pozzo  gives  a  list  of  colors  which  he  considers  best  for  fresco,  among 
which  he  speaks  of  white  made  from  lime,  after  being  slaked  at  least  for  six 
months.  "  White  from  Carrara  marble  is  good,  but  it  is  useless  to  prepare 
it,"  he  says,  "  when  well-seasoned  lime  and  egg-shells  can  be  obtained. 
Vermilion  is  a  most  lively  color,  but  must  be  prepared  with  lime-water." 
Other  authors  object  to  this  color. 

Burnt  Roman  vitriol  succeeds  well  with  lime  when  ground  with  spirits  of 
wine,  and  is  very  useful  as  a  ground  for  vermilion.  When  both  are  used  in 
drapery,  they  produce  a  color  quite  equal  to  that  of  lake  in  oil  painting. 

Red  ochre,  like  all  the  other  earths,  is  most  excellent  for  fresco.  Burnt 
yellow  ochre  is  rather  a  pale  red,  and  is  used  for  shading  yellow  draperies. 
There  are  two  kinds  of  yellow  ochre  found  at  Rome,  one  light  and  the  other 
dark. 

Brown  umber  is  good  for  shades  of  draperies.  It  must  be  used  with  care, 
and  mixed  with  white  lime,  because  it  always  becomes  darker  and  increases 
in  depth. 

Burnt  umber  is  excellent  for  shades  of  carnations  when  mixed  with  Vene- 
tian terra  vera,  or  black  earth,  which  is  the  darkest  color  of  all  for  fresco 
painting. 

Charcoal  black  can  be  made  in  various  ways,  and  is  good  for  anything  for 
which  black  is  required,  although  Roman  black  earth  produces  the  same 
effect,  and  is  in  very  general  use. 

Smaltino,  or  glass  blue,  should  be  laid  on  before  the  other  colors,  while 
the  intonaco  is  still  wet,  for  otherwise  it  will  not  incorporate  with  it.  An 


Fresco  Painting. 


hour  after  the  first  coat  has  been  applied,  a  second  coat  must  be  laid  on  to 
make  the  color  deeper.  The  pure  color  will  serve  for  shades,  but  charcoal 
black  should  be  used  in  the  deeper  shades. 

All  the  above-mentioned  colors  must  be  mixed  with  lime-white  to  produce 
the  light  and  middle  tints. 

Some  writers  affirm  that  ultramarine  is  not  good  for  fresco,  but  Pozzo  con- 
siders it  as  good  in  the  true  fresco  as  in  the  dry,  but  says  it  is  not  used,  as  it 
is  of  such  great  value.  He  also  says  that  indigo  may  be  used  in  summer, 
but  not  in  winter ;  while  others  say  that  this  color  is  destroyed  by  wet  Hme. 

In  all  these  colors,  particular  care  should  be  taken  that  they  are  the  very 
best  of  the  kind,  —  the  brightest,  purest,  and  finest  that  can  be  obtained,  — 
keeping  them  clean  to  preserve  their  brightness. 

It  was  the  practice  of  many  of  the  old  masters  to  retouch  their  frescos 
when  dry,  and  to  lay  in  preparatory  tints  totally  different  from  those  intended 
to  be  used  in  finishing  ;  thus,  a  dark-red  color  was  almost  invariably  laid  in  as 
a  preparation  for  blue,  and  this  practice  was  generally  adhered  to  until  after 
the  time  of  Raphael.  In  some  cases,  it  is  very  easy  to  detect  this  retouch- 
ing, for  it  will  generally  be  found  to  be  somewhat  darker  than  the  painting 
around. 

On  this  subject,  however,  no  better  advice  can  probably  be  given  than  that 
given  by  Borghini,  who  says,  "  Therefore,  whoever  paints  in  fresco  should 
each  day  completely  finish  his  day's  work  without  having  to  retouch  it  in 
secco,  because  his  picture  will  be  of  longer  duration,  and  he  will  be  con- 
sidered a  better  master." 


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The  Antefix  Papers, 


XV. 

OIL  PAINTING. 

All  writers  are  agreed  that  oil  painting,  as  practised  in  modern  times,  was 
first  introduced  about  the  year  1410,  and  the  honor  of  its  invention  unques- 
tionably belongs  to  the  brothers  Hubert  and  John  Van  Eyck,  two  Flemish 
painters,  who  seem  to  have  lived  both  at  Ghent  and  at  Bruges.  John  was 
buried  at  the  latter  place,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  17th  century  a 
monument  to  Hubert  was  still  in  existence  in  the  Church  of  St.  John,  which 
is  now  the  cathedral  at  Ghent. 

The  chief  honor  of  its  introduction  is  probably  due  to  Hubert,  the  elder 
of  the  two,  but  the  great,  if  not  superior,  merit  of  the  younger  brother,  and 
the  fact  that  his  works  only  were  known  in  Italy,  have  caused  the  name 
of  John  Van  Eyck  to  be  most  commonly  associated  with  the  invention.  It 
was  probably  rather  the  excellence  of  their  work  than  any  technical  pro- 
cess which  they  had  discovered,  that  recommended  their  method  to  the 
world  ;  and  we  have  to  thank  them  less  for  inventing  a  new  process, 
than  for  showing  by  their  skill  what  were  the  capabilities  of  an  art  that 
had  waited  for  centuries  for  the  hand  that  could  apply  it.  But  before  we 
proceed  to  examine  the  nature  of  their  discoveries  or  improvements,  let  us 
first  glance  at  the  previous  history  of  painting,  at  least  at  so  much  of  it  as  is 
most  nearly  connected  with  our  subject. 

The  pictures  of  the  ancients  were  executed  either  in  tempera  or  in  encaus- 
tic, and  were  painted  (if  not  upon  the  walls  of  buildings)  either  on  ivory  or  on 
wood.  The  processes  of  tempera  painting  have  been  so  fully  described  in 
the  preceding  pages  that  nothing  more  need  be  said  about  them  here.  The 
different  methods  of  encaustic  painting  have  been  also  so  clearly  described  in 
Mr.  Perkins's  able  and  instructive  lecture  (p.  2^^et seq?)  that  your  attention  is 
called  to  them  for  a  few  moments  only  to  point  out  the  relation  between  this 
ancient  art  and  the  earliest  use  of  oil,  in  connection  with  painting,  with  which 
we  are  acquainted. 

The  third  method,  spoken  of  by  Pliny  (see  p.  25),  brings  us  to  the  still 
open  question  regarding  these  wax  colors  that  could  be  applied  with  a  brush. 
How  were  they  retained  in  this  liquid  state  By  a  fixed  oil,  such  as  linseed, 
nut,  or  poppy  ?  By  some  one  of  the  essential  oils,  as  turpentine  ?  or  by  some 
kind  of  lye  which  reduced  them  to  a  soapy  state,  so  that  they  might  be  diluted 
with  water  ?     Perhaps  all  three  of  these  methods  were  used.    The  first 


Oil  Painting. 


117 


two  are  so  intimately  connected  with  our  subject  as  to  be  deserving  of 
some  attention,  for  much  of  what  we  call  oil  painting  is  really  done  either 
with  varnish  or  with  wax,  this  latter  having  been  much  more  freely  used 
than  is  generally  supposed.  It  has  been  found,  by  analysis,  that  the 
colors  of  the  Egyptian  mummy-cloths  were  mixed  with  wax,  and  the  art 
has  never  been  wholly  lost  sight  of:  it  has  been  retained  for  ages  in  the  tra- 
ditional practices  of  the  monks  of  Mt.  Athos,  where  it  is  still  practised,  and 
has  been  revived  in  different  forms  in  quite  modern  times  and  by  distinguished 
painters.  Some  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds's  most  beautiful  pictures,  noticeably 
"  The  Little  Strawberry  Girl,"  so  familiar  to  us  through  engravings,  are 
painted  not  in  oil  but  in  wax,  dissolved  in  Venice  turpentine,  as  shown  by 
his  own  note-book. 

Another  practice  of  the  ancients,  which  is  still  more  intimately  connected 
with  our  subject,  was  the  use  of  resinous  varnishes,  which,  from  a  very  early 
period,  were  applied  to  their  pictures,  whether  executed  in  tempera  or 
encaustic  ;  and  it  is  more  than  probable  that  from  the  use  of  these  varnishes 
the  practice  of  oil  painting  was  gradually  developed.  This  varnish  of  the 
Greeks  was  composed  of  gum,  mastic,  and  wax ;  but  we  are  still  uninformed 
of  the  vehicle  that  must  have  been  used  in  applying  them,  for  the  nature  of 
both  is  such  that  some  fluid  —  which  may  have  been  either  turpentine  or  oil  — 
must  have  been  used  to  dissolve  and  dry  them. 

Now,  so  Tie  of  tha  dryia^j  oils,  as  nut  oil  and  poppy  oil,  were  known  to  the 
ancients,  as  is  shown  by  the  works  of  their  writers  on  medicine  ;  and  as  resins, 
such  as  sandarac,  copal,  and  gum-mastic,  dissolved  in  drying  oils,  had,  for 
many  centuries  before  the  invention  of  modern  oil  painting,  been  employed 
to  protect  pictures,  "it  is  quite  conceivable,"  says  Sir  Charles  Eastlake, 
"  that  a  practice  which  was  common  among  the  Byzantine  artists  might  have 
been  derived,  as  many  of  their  processes  were,  from  the  technical  methods 
of  the  best  ages  of  Greece." 

But  my  object  in  this  inquiry  is  not  to  prove  the  antiquity  of  any  process 
or  art,  but  to  trace  the  steps  by  which  this  art  arose  ;  and  I  have  attached  so 
much  importance  to  this  old  varnish  of  the  Greeks  because  it  seems  to  be  the 
prototype  of  the  oleo-resinous  varnishes  of  the  Middle  Ages,  which,  being 
gradually  adopted  as  a  vehicle  as  well  as  a  varnish,  have  taken  so  conspicu- 
ous a  place  in  the  history  of  painting. 

The  resinous  varnish  employed  by  the  early  Christian  painters  was  quite 
dark  and  quite  thick,  so  that  its  application  produced  a  decided  modification 
of  the  painting  to  which  it  was  applied,  and  the  artist  had  to  paint  in  very 
fresh  colors,  with  a  view  to  the  mellowing  which  this  strong  glazing  —  for 
this  it  really  was  —  would  produce.  Flesh  color,  for  instance,  was  painted 
of  a  greenish  hue,  which  was  neutralized  by  the  dark  red  of  the  varnish. 
This  dark  color  was  so  far  from  being  thought  objectionable  that  when 
the  painter  substituted  —  as  he  sometimes  did  —  a  varnish  prepared  with 
whites  of  eggs,  it  was  colored  in  imitation  of  the  dark  resinous  varnish. 

It  is  quite  probable,  therefore,  that  the  painter,  seeing  how  the  tint  of  his 
varnish  affected  the  hues  over  which  it  was  placed,  would  vary  that  tint  so  as 
to  heighten  the  effect  of  his  picture.    The  next  step  would  be  to  treat  the 


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The  Antefix  Papers. 


tempera  picture  still  more  as  a  preparation,  and  to  calculate  still  further  on 
the  varnish  by  modifying  and  adapting  its  color  to  a  greater  extent.  A  work 
so  completed  must  have  nearly  approached  the  appearance  of  an  oil  picture  ; 
and,  fortunately,  there  is  preserved  at  Villeneuve  a  picture  by  King  Rene  of 
Anjou,  which  exhibits  just  this  stage  of  the  art.  From  this  use  of  transparent 
colors  with  the  varnish,  the  step  was  an  easy  one  to  the  use  of  opaque  colors 
as  well,  these  last  being  applied  to  the  lighter,  as  the  former  were  to  the 
darker  parts  of  the  work. 

I  ought,  perhaps,  to  have  mentioned  before,  that  while,  by  these  almost 
imperceptible  changes,  what  was  before  only  a  varnish  came  to  be  adopted 
as  a  vehicle,  its  dark  color  became  more  and  more  objectionable.  Methods 
for  bleaching  it  had  been  to  a  considerable  extent  successful,  and,  by  increas- 
ing the  proportion  of  oil  which  was  employed,  the  objection  was  in  a  great 
measure  removed  ;  but  it  never  has  been  wholly  so  even  to  our  own  day,  the 
purest  oil  itself  having  a  decided  tendency  to  turn  yellow,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  varnish,  which  is  always  present  in  a  greater  or  less  degree. 

But  though  the  Flemish  school  of  painting  seems  thus  to  have  arisen 
through  the  use  of  oil  in  varnishes,  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  this  was  the 
beginning  of  its  use  in  the  preparation  of  colors,  though  it  was  undoubtedly 
the  beginning  of  its  successful  employment  for  the  purposes  of  fine  art. 
Methods  of  bleaching  and  thickening  linseed  oil  by  exposure  to  the  sun,  either 
in  a  pure  state  or  mixed  with  certain  pigments,  such  as  white  lead,  to  increase 
its  drying  properties,  had  been  in  use  for  centuries  before  the  Van  Eycks  ; 
and  this  thickened  oil  —  which  was  almost  identical  with  the  fat  oil  which  is 
the  best  material  for  gilding  known  to  the  decorators  of  our  own  day  —  was 
used  either  as  a  varnish,  being  highly  recommended  in  an  old  MS.  as  a 
useful  dressing  for  pictures,  cross-bows,  etc.,  or  as  a  vehicle  for  color. 
Painting  with  this  clumsy  medium,  which  seems  to  have  been  valued  chiefly 
on  account  of  its  glossiness,  must  have  been  quite  extensively  practised  in 
the  northern  countries  of  Europe,  particularly  in  England,  certainly  in  the 
twelfth  century,  and  perhaps  long  before.  But  however  extensively  employed 
in  certain  coarse  kinds  of  decoration,  it  was  still  entirely  unfit  for  the  purposes 
of  fine  art ;  and  although  it  was  sometimes  introduced  into  pictures,  it  was 
only  partially  employed  in  the  purely  decorative  parts,  while  the  more  dehcate 
work,  as  the  flesh  in  the  figures,  had  still  to  be  executed  in  tempera. 
Although  some  improvements  in  its  preparation  were  doubtless  introduced, 
and  although  Giotto  is  said  to  have  sometimes  painted  in  oils,  there  are  no 
certain  examples  of  pictures  painted  before  the  fifteenth  century  in  which  the 
flesh  is  executed  in  oil  colors. 

The  principal  objection  to  the  use  of  tempera  seems  to  have  been  the  difficulty 
of  blending  the  tints  on  account  of  the  quick  drying  properties  of  the  vehicle, 
so  that  hatching  had  constantly  to  be  resorted  to  ;  but  this  difficulty  was  cer- 
tainly surmounted  by  some  painters  by  the  use  of  honey,  wax,  or  some  such 
ingredient,  which  retarded  their  drying  properties,  and  allowed  the  tints  to  be 
so  blended  in  such  a  manner  that  no  appearance  of  hatching  is  to  be  detected 
in  their  work. 

But  with  all  its  imperfections  tempera  was  still  preferable  to  oil  painting 


Oil  Painting. 


119 


before  the  improvements  of  Van  Eyck  ;  and  even  after  these  were  introduced 
many  of  the  best  Italian  masters  remained  for  a  long  time  faithful  to  their 
earlier  habits.  Michelangelo  was  never  converted.  Indeed,  the  very  facility 
with  which  the  colors  could  be  manipulated  by  employing  the  new  method, 
seems  to  have  retarded  rather  than  to  have  hastened  its  general  adoption,  by 
tempting  the  painter  into  minuteness  of  detail,  even  to  a  real  littleness  of  man- 
ner, and  to  amuse  himself  with  subtile  trickeries  of  color  to  the  neglect  of 
the  higher  qualities  of  composition.  This  objection  —  which,  of  course,  is 
chargeable  not  to  the  method  itself,  but  to  the  practice  of  the  Flemish  painters 
through  whose  work  it  was  first  introduced  to  the  Italians  —  has  appeared  so 
important  to  the  minds  of  the  greatest  masters  that  no  doubt  the  history  of 
the  grandest  things  that  have  ever  been  done  in  art  is  the  history  of  tempera 
and  fresco.  Perugino,  Leonardo,  and  John  Bellini  succeeded  in  adapting  oil 
painting  to  large  dimensions,  and  in  many  cases  to  a  corresponding  breadth  of 
manner,  and  their  immediate  followers  carried  the  art  to  perfection.  In  his 
beautiful  "  Lectures  on  Art,"  Ruskin  thus  alludes  to  the  age  of  these  painters 
and  to  their  successors  :  "  I  have  ventured,"  he  says,  "  to  call  the  era  of  paint- 
ing represented  by  John  Bellini,  the  time  of  the  masters.  Truly  they  deserved 
the  name,  who  did  nothing  but  what  was  lovely,  and  taught  only  what  was 
right ;  these  mightier  who  succeeded  them  crowned,  but  closed,  the  dynasties 
of  art,  and  since  their  day  painting  has  never  flourished  more." 

The  improvements  introduced  by  the  Van  Eycks  seem  to  have  consisted 
chiefly  in  the  discovery  that  oil-varnishes  could  be  used  as  vehicles  thin 
enough  to  admit  of  very  delicate  manipulation,  and  still  retain  the  gloss  which 
was  prized  so  highly. 

The  student  who  is  curious  about  the  methods  of  preparing  the  oils,  var- 
nishes, etc.,  in  use  among  the  painters  at  this  time,  may  consult  with  advan- 
tage the  valuable  work  by  Sir  Charles  Eastlake,  which  he  has  called  "  Mate- 
rials for  a  History  of  Oil  Painting  "  ;  but  the  investigation  of  these  details  has 
seemed  to  be  no  part  of  our  present  task.  Our  materials  are  now  selected 
and  prepared  for  us  in  a  manner  which  we  could  not  by  ourselves  hope  to 
excel,  each  color  being  ground  in  the  oil  best  fitted  for  it,  and  preserved  in  a 
form  as  neat  and  convenient  as  the  preparation  of  the  color  has  been  careful 
and  complete.  This  is  also  true  of  varnishes  and  mediums,  and  though  in  the 
use  of  them  we  cannot  exercise  too  much  care  and  discrimination,  yet  their 
mechanical  preparation  is  substantially  taken  out  of  our  hands. 

We  come  now  to  an  examination  of  the  technical  methods  which  have  been 
employed  by  the  different  masters  and  in  diff"erent  times.  Perhaps  the  only 
technical  process  which  has  survived  without  change  from  remote  antiquity  is 
a  method  of  preparing  grounds  on  wood  or  other  surfaces.  The  layer  of  chalk 
and  size  which  is  found  under  the  colors  upon  Egyptian  mummy-cases  is  nearly 
if  not  quite  the  same  as  that  employed  by  the  painters  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and 
it  has  been  more  or  less  in  use  even  to  the  present  day.  This  prepara- 
tion, the  solid  ingredient  of  which  may  be  either  chalk  or  plaster  of  Paris, 
finely  ground  and  mixed  with  water,  is  fittest  for  an  unyielding  surface,  as  it 
becomes  brittle  with  age ;  and  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  early  Flemish 
masters  worked  almost  exclusively  on  wooden  panels  in  which  they  were 


120  The  Antefix  Papers. 


followed  by  Rubens,  who  preferred,  at  least  in  his  smaller  pictures,  panels 
prepared  with  smooth  and  delicate  plaster  grounds. 

The  Venetians,  however,  seem  to  have  from  the  first  preferred  cloth  of  fine 
texture,  over  which  this  plaster  ground  was  spread  as  thinly  as  possible,  so 
as  to  avoid  the  danger  of  its  cracking  when  the  picture  was  rolled.  But  the 
use  of  wooden  panels,  large  or  small,  must  have  been  very  common  in  Italy  as 
well  as  in  the  northern  countries.  Raphael's  Transfiguration  was  painted  on 
a  panel  composed  of  planks  three  or  four  inches  thick  ;  and  if  a  picture  is 
thinly  painted,  as  they  generally  were  in  the  early  Flemish  school,  and  even 
by  Rubens,  it  is  much  less  liable  to  change  if  painted  on  wood  than  on  cloth, 
as  in  the  latter  case  it  is  exposed  to  the  action  of  the  air,  damp,  and  even 
dust  on  both  sides. 

The  ground  for  these  panel  pictures  was  prepared  in  this  way :  the  wood, 
which  was  not  to  be  too  smooth,  was  prepared  for  the  plaster  by  two  or  three 
coats  of  size  ;  and  by  size,  I  suppose  we  may  understand  either  the  mixture 
prepared  with  whites  of  eggs  or  any  other  of  the  glutinous  vehicles  employed 
in  tempera  painting.  Over  this  the  plaster,  mixed  with  a  strong  size,  was 
applied.  When  this  was  quite  dry  it  was  scraped  until  perfectly  smooth,  and 
on  this  delicate  ground  the  drawing  was  made,  whether  traced  from  a  cartoon 
or  sketched  in  charcoal,  and  afterwards  fixed  with  a  brownish  ink  and  shaded 
like  a  drawing.  It  was  in  just  such  a  manner  that  pictures  in  tempera  were 
begun  ;  and  we  thus  see  how  easily  the  two  methods  might  have  been  com- 
bined, as  they  were  in  such  examples  of  the  art  of  the  fourteenth  century  as 
have  been  alluded  to  before,  in  which  the  flesh  was  painted  in  tempera  and 
the  draperies  in  oil.  Over  this  drawing  a  transparent  warm  tint  in  oil  was 
spread.  I  say  "  in  oil,"  but  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  in  the  early  Flemish 
practice  the  medium  or  vehicle  was  always  more  or  less  oleo-resinous,  that 
is,  an  oil-varnish.  Over  this  priming,  when  quite  dry,  the  shadows  were 
painted  in  with  a  transparent  brown,  using  the  resinous  vehicle  quite  thickly, 
the  half  tints  being  also  more  or  less  indicated,  so  that  the  work  was  then 
tolerably  complete  as  to  its  light  and  shade.  The  lights,  though  painted  in 
opaque  colors,  were  yet  so  thinly  executed  as  to  preserve  the  bright  ground 
beneath,  so  that  in  the  early  Flemish  works  the  shadows  are  uniformly  more 
raised  than  the  lights.  Sometimes  the  light,  warm  tint  which  was  usually 
passed  over  the  drawing  was  omitted,  and  then  the  picture  may  have  been 
executed  at  once  upon  the  white  ground,  this  being  merely  covered  with  a 
transparent  size. 

The  habits  of  the  first  oil  painters  were  in  many  circumstances  influenced 
by  the  practice  of  tempera,  and  in  both  methods  it  was  common  to  finish  the 
work  as  they  proceeded  with  it,  a  part  being  completed  while  the  rest 
remained  untouched.  In  this,  as  in  many  other  respects,  the  practice  of  the 
Flemish  painters  corresponded  to  that  of  the  Italians,  for  they  both  learned 
very  early  that  each  color,  to  remain  pure  and  unchanged,  must  be  put  into  its 
place  at  once,  and  not  be  disturbed  afterwards.  This  lesson  we  cannot  learn 
too  soon  nor  follow  too  closely. 

Although  in  many  of  the  works  of  the  best  painters,  as,  for  instance,  the 
portraits  of  Vandyke,  the  colors  were  worked  over  one  another,  and  yet  the 


Oil  Painting. 


121 


whole  completed  at  once,  we  are  quite  certain  that  they  were  able  to  do  this 
only  by  using  a  quick-drying  varnish  for  a  vehicle,  so  that  the  colors  "set,"  as 
it  is  called,  almost  as  soon  as  they  were  applied  ;  and  the  sharpness,  which  is  so 
remarkable  in  well-preserved  Venetian  pictures,  seems  to  be  due  to  a  similar 
quick-drying  vehicle  which  must  have  been  applied  in  a  decidedly  thin  state. 

The  practice  of  the  Italian  painters,  as  of  the  later  Flemish  ones,  seems  to 
have  differed  from  the  earlier,  chiefly  in  that  they  learned  to  load  the  lights 
more  freely,  and  to  depend  less  on  the  bright  background  for  the  light  in 
their  pictures.  It  seems  to  have  been  reserved  for  the  great  Venetians  to 
show  that  shadow  is  not  absence  of  color,  but,  on  the  contrary,  necessary  to 
the  full  effect  of  color ;  and  the  great  splendor  of  the  Venetian  school  arises 
from  its  painters  having  seen  and  held  from  the  beginning  this  great  fact,  — 
that  shadow  is  as  much  color  as  light,  often  much  more.  It  is  not  enough  that 
shadow  shall  be  transparent ;  indeed,  according  to  the  common  acceptation 
of  the  word,  it  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  desirable  except  in  quite  exceptional 
cases.  Ruskin  says,  "After  many  years'  study  of  the  various  results  of  fresco 
and  oil  painting  in  Italy,  and  of  body  and  of  transparent  color  in  England,  I 
am  now  entirely  convinced  that  the  greatest  things  that  are  to  be  done  in  art 
must  be  done  in  dead  color.  The  habit  of  depending  on  varnish  upon  lucid 
tints  for  transparency,  makes  the  painter  comparatively  lose  sight  of  the 
nobler  translucence  which  is  obtained  by  breaking  various  colors  amidst  each 
other.  And  even  when,  as  by  Correggio,  exquisite  play  of  hue  is  joined  with 
exquisite  transparency,  the  delight  in  the  depth  almost  always  leads  the 
painter  into  mean  and  false  chiaro-oscuro  ;  it  leads  him  to  like  dark  back- 
grounds instead  of  luminous  ones,  and  to  enjoy,  in  general,  quality  of  color 
more  than  grandeur  of  composition,  and  confined  light  more  than  open  sun- 
shine, so  that  the  really  greatest  thoughts  of  the  greatest  men  have  always,  as 
far  as  I  remember,  been  reached  in  dead  color,  and  the  noblest  oil  pictures  of 
Tintoret  and  Veronese  are  those  which  are  likest  frescos." 

The  use  of  oils  in  painting,  though  attended  with  limitations  and  imperfec- 
tions, is  yet  a  favorite  method  with  the  painters  and  the  public  of  our  own 
day ;  and  certainly  for  such  forms  of  art  as  are  best  suited  to  the  temper  of 
our  times,  it  seems  to  be  eminently  fitted,  for  many  and  sufficient  reasons 
already  explained  to  us.  Noble  work  in  fresco,  it  is  supposed,  is  quite  impos- 
sible to  the  age  in  which  we  live.  Tempera  is  still  used  in  the  decoration  of 
large  surfaces  to  a  considerable  extent ;  but  in  private  edifices,  where  the 
work  is  to  be  seen  comparatively  near,  and  in  which,  therefore,  some  dehcacy 
of  execution  is  desirable,  oil  is  usually  preferred.  For  some  landscape  sub- 
jects, and  for  many  methods  of  study,  water-color  is  for  many  reasons  to  be 
preferred  ;  its  neatness  and  convenience,  and  the  comparative  ease  with 
which  certain  delicate  effects  of  light  and  distance  can  be  attained  by  its  use, 
must  constantly  recommend  it  to  the  sketcher.  But  for  pictures  in  which 
truthful  representations  of  texture,  such  as  flesh  and  draperies,  are  especially 
desirable,  as  well  as  for  rendering  the  more  precious  subtleties  of  color,  the 
excellence  of  an  oil  medium  seems  to  be  quite  undisputed,  and  it  must  still 
be  accorded  one  of  the  highest  places  in  modern  art. 
i6 


122 


Th€  Antefix  Papers. 


XVI. 

TECHNICAL  TERMS. 

Accessories.  Any  objects  not  actually  belonging  to  the  main  subject  of  a 
picture. 

Accident  is  a  special  condition  or  aspect  of  an  object  or  collection  of 
objects,  as  distinguished  from  a  general  condition  or  aspect  of  the  same. 

Aerial.  A  gradual  weakening  of  the  tones  of  colors  as  they  recede  from 
the  eye. 

Arrangement  is  the  combination  or  distribution  of  the  various  elements  of 
a  picture. 

Bearing  out  is  using  color  in  its  full  force.    In  opposition  to  sinking  in. 

Breadth  is  effect,  resulting  from  the  general  treatment  of  a  subject,  in 
which  details  are  subordinated  by  grouping  them  in  masses  to  produce  sim- 
plicity of  effect. 

Cartoons.  Designs  lipon  paper  prepared  by  painters,  from  which  their 
works  are  to  be  executed. 

Cast  shadow  is  that  which  is  produced  upon  a  surface  by  the  interposition 
of  an  opaque  body  between  it  and  the  light. 

Chiaro-oscuro.  The  art  of  distributing  the  lights  and  shadows  of  an  object 
so  as  to  give  it  a  natural  effect. 

Composition  includes  arranget7tent  with  invention. 

Contrast  is  the  opposition  of  different  colors  and  shades  of  color,  to  each 
other. 

Cross  hatching  is  the  use  of  the  wet  or  dry  point,  as  in  a  line  engraving,  to 
make  lines  which  cross  each  other  at  regular  distances,  and  cover  only  a 
part  of  the  ground. 

Dead  coloring  is  the  preparatory  painting,  cold  and  pale,  to  admit  of  after- 
glazing,  etc. 

Design  implies  the  representation  of  objects,  human  figures,  or  animals, 
and  includes  correctness,  style,  variety,  and  perspective,  outline,  measure, 
and  proportion. 

Dragging  is  the  process  of  drawing  a  brush  charged  with  thick  opaque 
color  heavily  and  quickly  over  the  painting. 

Finish  is  perfect  expression  of  detail  without  sacrificing  breadth. 
Foreshortening  is  the  apparent  diminution  of  the  length  of  an  object  in 


Technical  Terms. 


123 


proportion  as  the  direction  of  its  length  coincides  with  the  direction  of  the 
visual  ray. 

Glazing  is  putting  a  transparent  color  over  other  colors,  either  to  increase 
or  decrease  their  brightness,  without  changing  their  effect  of  light  and  shade. 

Handlings  when  applied  to  manipulation,  means  the  method  of  using  the 
means  employed  for  representing  objects.  The  handling  of  a  subject  means 
the  treatment  of  the  incident  or  theme. 

Harmony  is  the  placing  of  three  or  more  colors  in  the  same  proportions  as 
to  surface  as  they  exist  in  white  light,  or  is  the  effect  of  a  proper  arrangement 
of  colors  in  a  picture. 

Hue  is  the  predominance  of  a  primary  in  a  compound. 

Impasting  is  the  loading  of  opaque  color  upon  the  lights. 

Keeping  is  the  proper  subserviency  of  tone  and  color  in  every  part  of  a 
picture. 

Laying  in  a  flat  wash  is  the  even  covering  of  a  surface  by  means  of  a  brush 
fully  charged  with  color  diluted  in  water. 

Light  is  the  illuminated  portion  of  an  object  giving  direct  reflection. 

Local  color  is  the  color  of  any  part  of  a  picture  or  group  of  objects  or  sub- 
jects,—  the  self-color  of  an  object,  unchanged  by  light,  shade,  distance,  or 
reflection. 

Manner.    Habit  of  handling,  coloring,  inventing,  etc. 

Motive.    The  subject  matter  of  a  single  figure  or  group. 

Oiling  out  is  the  preparatory  process  of  spreading  a  coat  of  oil  upon  a 
surface  which  will  unite  with  it  and  receive  the  upper  coat  of  paint. 

Point.  The  brush  is  described  as  the  wet  point ;  the  pencil  or  crayon  as 
the  dry. 

Priming.  The  laying  of  a  preparatory  ground  without  reference  to  color. 
Refiected  light  is  the  indirect  illumination  of  shadow. 

Relief  in  painting  is  the  apparent  projection  of  a  shaded  representation 
of  an  object  from  a  fiat  surface. 

Scunibling  is  the  process  of  passing  a  thin  film  of  opaque  color  over  other 
color  in  a  nearly  dry  condition,  so  as  not  completely  to  cover  the  color 
worked  over. 

Shade  is  the  partial  obstruction  of  light. 

Shadow  is  the  obstruction  of  direct  light. 

Stippling  is  the  process  of  using  the  wet  or  dry  point  in  a  series  of 
touches,  strokes,  or  dots,  to  obtain  evenness  of  surface,  gradation  of  shade, 
or  intensity  of  shadow. 

Style  implies  the  way  in  which  materials  are  used  to  convey  conceptions, 
and  sentiments.    Applied  to  subject  as  well  as  to  mode  of  treatment. 

Texture  is  the  imitation  of  the  surface  of  the  object  represented. 

Tint  is  the  dilution  of  a  primary  by  white. 

Tone  is  the  degree  of  light  and  shade  in  some  specific  part  of  a  picture,  — 
harmony  of  shading  or  accord  in  hue,  or  the  general  effect  produced  by  all 
the  colors  used. 


124 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


XVII. 

STRUCTURAL  BOTANY. 

Structural  Botany  is  the  study  of  the  form  and  structure  of  the  organs 
or  parts  of  a  plant  by  which  its  functions  are  performed,  and  in  beginning  this 
study  the  question  arises,  How  do  plants  grow  ? 

To  get  a  clear  idea  of  the  whole  structure  and  growth  of  plants,  let  us  begin 
with  the  seed,  and  trace  from  it  the  life  of  the  plant  through  successive  stages 
until  we  reach  the  seed  again. 

If  we  take  a  maple  seed  and  lay  it  open,  we  can  see,  without  the  aid  of  a 
microscope,  that  the  little  plant  already  formed  consists  of  a  pair  of  very 
small  leaves  borne  on  a  stem,  and  snugly  packed  within  its  protecting  walls. 
Thus  we  see  that  the  plant  exists  beforehand  in  the  seed,  and  that  in  the 
process  of  germination  it  has  only  to  burst  its  prison-house,  unfold,  and  grow 
to  push  its  leaflets  upward  into  light  and  air,  and  at  the  same  time  to  thrust 
its  little  stem  deeper  and  deeper  into  the  earth,  to  form  the  roots  with  which 
it  is  to  draw  its  nourishment  from  the  soil. 

The  little  leaves  of  the  seed  have  between  them  a  minute  bud  of  undevel- 
oped leaves  called  the  plumule.  In  some  plants  this  does  not  appear  for 
several  days  after  the  seed-leaves  ;  in  others  it  makes  its  appearance  very 
soon  as  a  pair  of  minute  leaves  raised  on  a  stalk  which  carries  them  above 
the  seed-leaves.  Later,  a  third  pair  of  leaves  proceeding  from  the  summit  of 
the  second  is  formed,  and  raised  on  a  third  joint  of  the  stem,  and  so  on  until 
the  plantlet  becomes  a  tree.  All  this  time  the  root  is  growing,  but  in  a  differ- 
ent manner ;  for  while  the  stem  is  growing  by  joints,  the  root  grows  contin- 
uously from  the  bottom  without  joints. 

Both  root  and  stem  generally  branch,  the  root  without  any  particular  order, 
while  the  stem  gives  out  regularly  disposed  branches  which  in  their  undevel- 
oped state  are  called  buds.  These  appear  in  the  axils  or  angles  formed  by 
the  leaf  and  stem  on  the  upper  side,  and  develop  into  branches  in  the  same 
way  that  the  plumule  did  from  the  embryo. 

Herbs  and  trees  grow  in  the  same  way,  the  difference  is  only  in  size  and 
duration.  The  herb  after  ripening  its  seed,  or  at  the  approach  of  winter,  dies 
altogether,  or  down  to  the  ground,  and  is  called  an  annual,  biennial,  or  peren- 
nial herb,  as  it  ripens  its  seed  the  first  or  second  year,  or  as  it  lives  and 
blossoms  year  after  year,  throwing  out  shoots  from  buds  that  survive. 


Strticiural  Botany, 


125 


A  shrub  is  a  perennial  plant,  with  woody  stem,  which  continues  alive  and 
grows  year  after  year. 

A  tree  differs  from  a  shrub  only  in  greater  size. 

Buds  are  terminal  or  axillary,  according  as  they  grow  on  the  end  of  a 
branch  or  in  the  axils  of  the  leaves.  They  are  scaly  or  naked,  the  first  being 
covered  with  scales,  a  kind  of  imperfect  leaves  to  protect  the  parts  underneath 
from  injury,  common  to  trees  and  shrubs  in  northern  climates.  Naked  buds 
are  usual  in  tropical  climates  as  well  as  in  herbs  everywhere  which  branch 
during  the  summer,  but  cannot  bear  the  winter. 

Other  names  given  to  buds  are  accessory  or  supernumerary,  adventitious 
that  is  out  of  the  axils  and  without  order  and  latent,  when  they  survive  long 
without  growing. 

Leaf-buds  or  flower-buds  are  so  called  because  they  contain  leaves  or 
flowers. 

The  arrangement  of  branches  is  the  same  as  that  of  axillary  buds  and 
leaves,  that  is,  opposite,  when  two  leaves  are  borne  on  the  same  joint  of  the 
stem,  or  alternate,  when  there  is  only  one  from  each  joint. 

Only  one  leaf  is  ever  produced  from  the  same  joint.  When  two  are  borne 
on  the  same  joint  they  are  on  opposite  sides  of  the  stem,  that  is,  they  are 
separated  by  half  a  circumference  ;  when  in  whorls  of  three,  four,  or  five,  or  any 
other  number,  they  are  equally  distributed  around  the  stem  so  that  they  have 
the  greatest  possible  divergence  from  each  other. 

This  arrangement  of  leaves  around  a  branch  is  expressed  by  fractions, 
which  denote  the  divergence  of  the.  successive  leaves,  /.  e.  the  angle  they  form 
with  each  other ;  the  numerator  expresses  the  number  of  turns  made  around 
the  stem  in  completing  one  cycle  or  set  of  leaves,  and  the  denominator  gives 
the  number  of  leaves  in  each  circle  as  ^,  \,  |,  f,  in  which  the  fourteenth 
leaf  is  over  the  first,  after  five  turns  around  the  stem  the  numerator  and 
denominator  of  each  fraction  being  those  of  the  two  next  preceding  ones  added 
together.  At  this  rate  the  next  higher  should  be  then  i|,  and  in  fact  just 
such  cases  are  met  with  and  commonly  no  others.  The  shapes  of  the  leaves 
also  should  be  attended  to,  and  will  be  alluded  to  further  on. 

Inflorescence  is  governed  by  the  same  law  as  the  arrangement  of  the  leaves, 
for  flowers  are  buds  developed  in  a  particular  way,  and  flower-buds  occupy 
the  position  of  leaf-buds  and  no  other  ;  and  as  leaf-buds  are  either  terminal  or 
axillary,  so  likewise  are  flowers.  But  while  the  same  plant  commonly  pro- 
duces both  kinds  of  leaf-buds  it  rarely  bears  flowers  in  both  situations  ;  they 
are  either  all  axillary  or  all  terminal,  the  different  names  of  indeterminate 
inflorescence  being  given  further  on. 

The  object  of  the  fiower  is  to  form  the  fruit.  The  essential  part  of  the 
fruit  is  the  seed^  which  brings  us  back  to  our  starting-point. 

In  going  over  the  ground  in  detail  we  find  that  plants  have  three  Organs 
OF  Vegetation,  —  Root,  Stein,  Leaves. 

Three  Organs  of  Reproduction,  —  Flowers,  Fruit,  Seeds. 

The  flower  has  two  Essential  Organs,  —  Stajnens,  Pistils,  Two  Protect- 
ing Organs^  —  Calyx,  Corolla.. 


126 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


The  Organs  of  Vegetation  are  all  a  plant  needs  for  its  growth.  They  are, 
therefore,  the  Fundamental  Organs  of  plants. 

The  Root  is  the  basis  of  the  plant,  and  the  principal  source  of  its  nour- 
ishment. The  tendency  of  its  growth  is  downward,  and  it  is  usually  im- 
bedded in  the  soil. 

The  Stem  grows  upwards,  and  bears  leaves  and  blossoms. 

The  Leaves  make  the  foliage  of  the  plant.  They  are  generally  flat,  thin, 
green  bodies,  turning  one  surface  upwards. 

The  Organs  of  Reproduction  enable  the  plant  to  give  rise  to  new  individ- 
uals, to  reproduce  and  perpetuate  the  species. 

A  complete  flower  consists  of  the  Essential  Organs,  —  Stamens^  Pistils, — 
surrounded  by  the  Protecting  Organs,  called  the  floral  envelopes,  which  con- 
sist of  two  circles,  one  above  or  within  the  other.  These,  taken  together,  are 
sometimes  called  the  Perianth.  The  lower  or  outer  circle  is  known  as  the 
Calyx,  or  flower-cup,  and  is  the  outer  covering  of  the  blossom,  usually  green 
and  leaf-like.    Its  several  parts  are  called  Sepals. 

The  Corolla  is  the  inner  cup  or  inner  circle  of  leaves  of  the  flower.  Its 
parts  are  called  Petals, 

The  Essential  Organs  also  occupy  two  circles,  or  rows,  one  within  the 
other.  Those  in  the  outer  row,  next  the  petals,  are  called  Stamens,  and 
those  of  the  inner  row  are  called  Pistils. 

A  Stamen  consists  of  a  stalk  called  the  Filai7tent,  which  bears  upon  its 
apex  the  essential  part  of  the  stamen  called  the  anther,  a  rounded,  hollow 
body  filled  with  a  powdery  matter  called  Pollen. 

A  PiSTiiy  has  three  parts,  —  an  Ovary,  a  Style,  a  Stigma.  The  Ovary 
contains  the  Ovules  or  bodies  destined  to  become  seeds.  The  Style  is  a 
prolongation  of  the  ovary,  and  bears  the  Stigma. '  This  stigma  is,  in  reality, 
a  portion  of  the  surface  of  the  style,  at  the  apex,  denuded  of  the  epidermis, 
or  skin.  Some  of  the  pollen  from  the  anthers  falls  upon  this  naked,  moist 
part ;  the  ovules  contained  in  the  ovaries  are  fertilized  and  become  seeds. 

The  Fruit  is  the  ripened  ovary,  which  becomes  the  Seed-vessel  (or  Peri- 
carp). A  Seed  is  a  fertihzed  and  matured  ovule.  It  consists  of  a  Nucleus 
or  Kernel,  usually  enclosed  in  two  integuments  or  seed-coats.  Besides  the 
true  seed-coats,  there  is  sometimes  an  outer  loose  covering,  arising  from  the 
expansion  of  the  apex  of  the  Seed-stalk  or  funiculus,  called  an  Aril.  Mace 
is  the  aril  of  the  nutmeg.  When  the  seed  is  detached  from  the  funiculus 
there  is  left  upon  it  a  little  scar  called  Hilum, 

The  Nucleus  or  Kernel  is  the  whole  body  of  the  seed  within  the  coats. 
It  consists  of  the  Albumen,  when  this  substance  is  present,  and  the  Embryo. 
Where  there  is  no  albumen  the  whole  kernel  consists  of  the  embryo. 

The  Albumen  is  a  store  of  nutritive  matter,  in  a  very  condensed  form, 
accumulated  about  the  embryo  for  the  purpose  of  nourishing  it  until  it  is 
strong  enough  to  obtain  and  assimilate  food  for  itself 

The  Embryo  is  the  plant  in  miniature.  AH  other  parts  of  flower,  fruit,  and 
geed  are  subservient  to  its  production,  protection,  and  support.  It  possesses, 
in  an  undeveloped  state,  all  the  essential  organs  of  vegetation,  —  a  root,  a 


Structural  Botany. 


127 


stem,  and  leaves.  In  many  cases  these  several  parts  may  be  distinguished 
in  the  seed.  It  consists  of  one  or  more  Cotyledons  or  Seed-leaves,  a  bud 
called  the  Plumule,  and  a  Radicle,  an  original  stem  which  gives  rise  to 
the  root. 

When  an  embryo  has  but  one  cotyledon  it  is  said  to  be  Mo?iocotyledo?ious, 
Dicotyledonous  when  it  has  a  pair  of  cotyledons,  Polycotyledonous  when  it 
has  more  than  one  pair. 

Plants  are  divided  into  two  Classes,  —  Cryptogamous,  or  Flowerless  Platitsj 
Phcenogamous,  or  Flowering  Plants. 

The  Cryptogamous  Plants  are  such  as  are  produced  by  spores  in  place 
of  seeds.  Spores  are  single,  specialized  cells,  which  originate  in  some  of  the 
ordinary  modes  of  cell  production  and  without  the  agency  of  proper  flowers. 
Most  plants  of  this  class,  however,  have  organs  analogous  to  those  of  the 
flower,  at  least  in  function.    Ferns,  mosses,  and  seaweeds  are  of  this  class. 

The  PHiENOGAMOUS  Plants  are  divided  into  two  Classes,  —  Gymnosper- 
mous  (naked-seeded)  Plants,  and  A ngiospermous  (covered-seeded)  Plants. 
In  the  former  class  the  flowers  are  of  such  extreme  simplicity  that  they  con- 
sist, some  of  a  stamen  only,  others  of  one  or  more  naked  ovules,  borne  on 
the  margin  of  an  evident  leaf,  as  in  Cycas,  or  on  the  base  or  inside  of  an 
altered,  scale-like  leaf,  as  in  the  Pine  family.  In  the  latter  class  the  flowers 
of  the  simplest  kind,  consist,  one  sort,  of  a  stamen  only,  the  other  of  a 
pistil  only ;  but  as  we  rise  in  the  scale  these  organs  multiply,  both  are  found 
in  the  same  flower,  both  are  protected  or  adorned  with  the  calyx  and  corolla, 
and  thus  we  have  the  completed  flower,  exhibiting  the  Organs  of  Reproductio7t 
in  their  perfect  form. 

In  Phaenogamous  plants  the  Organs  of  Vegetation  also  exhibit  their  perfect 
development.    Root,  stem,  and  leaves  are  well  defined. 

In  all  Cryptogamous  Plants  furnished  with  a  distinct  axis,  or  stem  and 
leaves,  the  whole  structure  is  formed  after  germination,  and  when  formed  the 
axis  grows  from  the  apex  only,  having  no  primary  root.  Pha;nogamous 
Plants,  on  the  contrary,  are  developed  directly  from  an  embryo  plantlet,  — 
from  an  axis  and  its  appendages,  which  exists  in  the  seed,  and  which  grows 
both  ways  in  germination,  —  from  one  end  to  produce  the  root,  from  the 
other  the  stem. 

The  Radicle  is  the  rudimentary  axis.  The  Cotyledons  are  the  undeveloped 
first  pair  of  leaves.  The  leaves  rise  into  light  and  air,  the  root  turns  down- 
ward into  the  soil.    These  tendencies  are  absolute. 

We  may  say,  then,  that  the  axis,  especially  in  plants  of  the  highest  grade, 
is  composed  of  a  Descending  Axis  or  Root,  and  an  Ascendins^  Axis  or  Ste?n. 
The  place  where  the  two  unite  is  called  the  crown,  neck,  or  collar.  Both 
root  and  stem  branch,  and^the  branches  obey  the  laws  of  the  axis  from  which 
they  spring. 

We  will  consider,  in  succession,  the  Organs  of  Vegetation,  beginning  with 
the  simplest  of  these  organs, 


128 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


THE  ROOT. 

The  office  of  the  root  is  to  provide  the  nourishment  required  by  the  plant 
for  its  growth.  Most  roots  grow  in  the  earth  ;  some  grow  in  water,  as  those 
of  the  Duck-weed  ;  some  hang  in  the  air,  and  some  grow  into  the  substance 
of  other  living  plants. 

The  root  formed  from  the  embryo  as  it  grows  from  the  seed  is  called  the 
Primary  or  True  root.    All  other  roots  are  adventitious. 

Annual  roots  are  those  of  a  plant  which  springs  from  the  seed,  flowers 
and  dies  in  the  same  year  or  season.  Such  plants  have  fibrous  roots,  com- 
posed of  slender  fibres  or  rootlets  proceeding  laterally  from  the  main  or  tap- 
root, as  in  the  mustard,  or  else  the  whole  root  divides  at  once  into  such 
fibrous  branches  as  in  all  annual  grasses. 

Bie7inial  roots  are  those  of  plants  which  do  not  blossom  until  the  second 
season,  and  then  perish  like  annuals.  In  these  the  cells  of  the  roots  become 
filled  with  starch,  vegetable  jelly,  sugar,  etc.  Such  roots  are  said  to  be 
Jleshy,  and  receive  names  according  to  their  forms. 

The  root,  when  of  one  main  body  tapering  downwards  to  a  point,  as  that 
of  a  carrot,  is  a  tap-root,  and  when  stout,  tapering  gradually  from  the  base 
to  the  apex,  is  conical,  as  that  of  a  parsnip  or  beet.  When  thicker  in  the  mid- 
dle, tapering  upwards  as  well  as  downwards,  like  a  radish,  it  is  fusiform  or 
spindle-shaped ;  napiforin  or  turnip-shaped  when  it  is  broader  than  it  is  long, 
or  has  a  suddenly-tapering  tip ;  fasciculated  or  clustered  when  some  of  the 
branches  are  thickened,  instead  of  the  main  axis  ;  tuberous  or  tuberiferous 
when  the  branches  assume  the  form  of  rounded  knobs  ;  fibro-tuberous  when 
some  of  the  adventitious  roots  are  enlarged,  others  not ;  palmate  when  the 
knobs  are  branched. 

These  must  not  not  be  confounded  with  tubers,  such  as  potatoes,  which 
are  forms  of  stems. 

Perennial  roots  belong  to  a  third  class  of  herbs  and  to  all  woody  plants 
which  annually  produce  new  roots  and  form  new  accumulations,  some  of 
which  perish  each  year,  whije  the  individual  plant  survives  indefinitely. 

Secondary  roots,  also  called  advefttitious  roots,  spring  from  any  part  of  a 
growing  stem  that  lies  on  the  ground. 

Aerial  roots  are  such  as  strike  from  the  stem  into  the  air,  some  of  which 
may  reach  the  ground  and  help  to  nourish  the  plant. 

Aerial  rootlets  serve  in  most  cases  as  mechanical  supports  to  the  climbing 
vine  to  which  they  belong,  the  plant  receiving  nourishment  from  its  ordinary 
roots  embedded  in  the  soil. 

Epiphytes,  or  air plaitts,  have  roots  which  never  connect  with  the  soil,  but 
find  nourishment  in  the  air. 

Parasitic  plants  strike  their  roots  into  the  bark  pr  wood  of  the  species  on 
which  they  grow,  and  feed  upon  the  sap. 

THE  STEM 

Is  the  ascending  axis  which  in  the  embryo  grows  into  the  light  in  a 
direction  opposite  to  that  of  the  root.    It  does  not  uniformly  retain  the 


Structural  Botany, 


129 


ascending  direction  taken  at  the  commencement  of  its  growth.  It  sometimes 
trails  along  the  ground  or  burrows  beneath  it.  Stems  are  commonly  known 
from  roots  by  the  buds  which  they  produce.  The  production  of  leaves  is 
characteristic  of  the  stem. 

These  are  formed  only  at  certain  definite  and  symmetrically  arranged  points 
called  nodes^  literally  knots,  so  called  because  here  the  tissues  are  interlaced 
or  interrupted.  This  is  conspicuously  seen  in  a  stalk  of  Indian  corn  or  any 
grass  ;  each  node  forms  a  distinct  ring,  the  leaf  arising  from  the  whole  cir- 
cumference of  the  stem  at  that  place.  The  portions  between  the  nodes  are 
called  internodes,  and  a  leading  peculiarity  of  the  stem  is  that  it  is  formed 
by  a  succession  of  similar  parts  developed  one  above  another. 

There  are  two  conditions  which  constitute  the  important  differences  between 
stems,  namely,  stems  with  the  internodes  developed,  as  in  peas,  beans,  etc., 
and  stems  with  the  internodes  not  perceptibly  developed,  as  in  the  houseleek. 

The  apex  of  every  stem  capable  of  further  terminal  growth  is  crowned 
with  a  bud;  braftches  spring  from  lateral  or  axillary  buds.  These  are  new, 
undeveloped  axes,  which  usually  appear  one  in  the  axil  of  each  l^af.  The 
branches  growing  from  these  are  in  turn  provided  with  buds,  and  so  on 
indefinitely.    The  latest  twigs  are  termed  branchlets. 

If  the  buds  are  regularly  produced,  the  branches  will  be  opposite  when  the 
leaves  are  opposite,  and  they  will  be  alteniate  or  scattered  and  irregular 
according  to  the  arrangement  of  the  leaves  and  the  development  of  the  buds. 

In  shrubs  and  trees,  therefore,  the  general  form  is  dependent  on  the  growth 
of  the  bud  and  the  position  of  the  leaves. 

Adventitious  buds  are  those  which  originate  in  the  parenchyma  or  the 
membranous  cellular  tissue,  some  cells  of  which  take  an  independent 
development. 

Accessory  buds  are  multiplications  of  the  regular  axillary  bud. 

The  habit  of  a  stem  results  from  the  condition  of  the  texture  of  its  parts. 
It  may  be  herbaceous,  that  is,  soft,  green,  and  tolerably  firm,  as  in  most 
annuals,  and  then  either  erect,  procumbent,  trailing,  prostrate,  running, 
creeping,  decumbent,  climbing^  twining. 

Herbaceous  stems  may  be  succulent,  as  in  the  stone-crop,  or  fistular,  as  in 
grasses. 

Stems  with  undeveloped  internodes  are  called  acaulescent  or  stejnless.  In 
these  the  stem  is  very  short,  or  concealed  in  the  ground. 
P\W.  phcenogamous  plants  have  stems. 
The  following  are  the  chief  forms  of  stems  :  — 
Annual  stein. 

Erect peremiial  stem  (when  large,  called  a  trunk). 

Rhizome  or  root-stock;  a  horizontal,  subterraneous,  perennial  stem,  on 
which  the  flowering  stems,  annually  developed,  die  down  each  year. 

Stolon;  a  form  of  branch  which  curves  to  the  ground,  strikes  root,  then 
forms  an  ascending  stem.    Currant  bushes  spread  by  stolons.    Stlch  plants 
are  said  to  be  stoloniferous. 
17 


130 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


Runner;  a  slender  branch  sent  from  the  base  of  the  parent  stem,  which 
strikes  root  at  its  apex,  and  produces  an  independent  plant ;  ex.  strawberry. 
Such  branches  are  termed  flagellifor77t. 

Slicker  J  a  branch  which  springs  under  ground,  roots,  and  sends  up  an 
independent  stem  ;  ex.  rose.    Said  to  be  s2irc2ilose. 

Offset;  a  short,  prostrate  branch,  with  a  tuft  of  leaves  at  the  end,  which 
takes  root ;  ex.  houseleek. 

Cuhjt;  the  name  given  to  the  peculiar  jointed  stem  of  grasses  and  sedges. 

Caudex;  any  persistent  erect  or  ascending  rootlike  form  of  main  stems  ; 
ex.  palm. 

Peduncle;  Xh.Q  stalk  of  a  solitary  flower. 
Pedicel;  the  name  applied  to  a  subdivision  of  the  peduncle. 
All  the  internodes  between  calyx  and  pistil  constitute  the  receptacle  or 
thalamus. 

A  stem  is  said  to  be  excui'rent  when  the  primary  axis  is  prolonged  without 
interruption ;  diliqtiescent  when  the  main  stem  is  arrested  and  lost  in  the 
branchesi> 

A  Tuber  is  a  root-stock  thickened  at  the  end. 

A  Cor7n  or  solid  bulb  is  a  rounded  tuber. 

A  Bulb  is  a  scaly  or  coated  and  usually  subterranean  bud. 

Stems  are  divided  into  two  great  Classes,  —  Exogenous  [otctside growing).. 
Endogenous  {inside  groming).  The  Exogenous  Class  is  by  far  the  greater 
in  every  part  of  the  world. 

THE  LEAF 

Is  the  organ  in  which,  under  the  agency  of  sunlight,  the  sap,  taken  in  by  the 
root,  conveyed  by  the  stem,  is  digested  and  converted  into  proper  nourish- 
ment for  the  plant.  It  is  made  up,  like  the  stem,  of  a  cellular  portion  and 
the  skeleton  or  framework  which  gives  it  form  and  strength, 

A  skin  or  epidermis  invests  the  leaf,  as  it  does  the  whole  vegetable.  This 
skin  has  thousands  of  little  mouths,  called  stomaies  or  breathing-pores.  These 
open  into  air-chambers,  and  afford  a  free  communication  between  the  exter- 
nal air  and  the  interior  of  the  leaf. 

Leaves  usually  expand  horizontally.  The  development  proceeds  from  the 
apex  towards  the  base.  A  leaf  with  all  its  parts  complete  consists  of  the 
blade  or  laniina,  with  its  petiole  or  leaf -stalky  and  a  pair  of  stipules  at  its 
base.  Many  leaves  have  no  leaf-stalk  ;  they  are  then  said  to-  be  sessile. 
The  lower  part  of  the  petiole  is  usually  enlarged  so  as  to  embrace  the  stem. 
This  part  is  called  the  sheathing  portion. 

In  7nonocotyledo7is,  especially  grasses,  the  sheathing  part  of  the  leaf  is  usu- 
ally well  developed,  and  the  petiole  consists  of  a  sheath  embracing  the  stem. 
This,  in  true  grasses,  has  at  its  summit  a  membranous  appendage  called  a  ligule. 

In  dicotyledo7is  the  sheathing  part  is  not  much  developed,  but  is  often 
thickened,^and  appHed  upon  a  slight  swelling  of  the  stem  called  the  pulvi7tus 
or  cushion.  When  the  leaf  falls,  it  usually  leaves  a  scar  called  a  cicatrix. 
A  leaf  separating  in  this  way  is  said  to  be  articulated  or  jointed  to  the  stem. 
Leaves  which  do  not  fall  in  this  way  wither  on  the  stem. 


Structural  Botany. 


131 


When  the  stipules  are  blended  with  the  petiole,  as  in  the  rose,  they  are 
called  adnate  stipules.  Sometimes,  as  in  the  pea,  they  are  free^  standing  on 
each  side,  like  little  leaves. 

When  stipules  exist  where  leaves  are  opposite,  there  is  either  a  pair  on 
each  side  between  the  leaves,  or  each  pair  is  blended  into  one,  and  are  termed 
interpetiolar.  Stipules  are  intrafoHaceoiis  when,  as  in  the  plane,  they  are 
pushed  back  to  the  side  of  the  stem  opposite  to  the  leaf,  and  are  blended 
into  one  leaf-like  body. 

Leaves  are  arranged  in  various  ways  upon  the  stalk.  They  are  scatterea 
or  irregidar^  as  in  the  potato  ;  alternate^  one  above  the  other  on  opposite 
sides,  as  the  pea ;  opposite,  two  on  the  same  node  at  opposite  sides  of  the 
stem,  as  the-  lilac ;  whorled  or  vertkillate,  more  than  two  on  each  node, 
forming  a  circle,  as  meadow  lily ;  fasciculated  or  tufted^  when  the  leaves 
grow  in  tufts,  as  pines  ;  iuibricated,  when  the  leaves  overlap  one  another. 
When  this  happens  at  the  base  of  the  stem,  as  in  the  houseleek,  the  lower 
leaves  are  said  to  be  rosulate.  Secund,  when  the  leaves  on  one  side  of  a 
branch  curve  so  that  their  points  turn  in  the  same  direction  as  those  on  the 
opposite  side  ;  distichous,  when  arranged  in  two  ranks,  as  the  yew ;  tristi- 
chous,  when  arranged  in  three  ranks. 

The  mode  of  attachment  to  the  stem  exhibits  many  varieties.  The  point 
of  attachment  is  termed  its  insertion.  We  have  sheathing  leaves,  —  grasses  ; 
stalked  leaves,  —  lilac;  sessile  leaves,  v^hen  there  is  no  perceptible  petiole. 
Sessile  leaves  are  called  clasping  or  amplexicaul,  when  they  embrace  the 
stem  with  their  bases.  When  the  stem  has  the  appearance  of  passing  through 
the  leaf,  the  leaf  is  called  perfoliate.  When  two  opposite  leaves  grow  together, 
they  are  connate.  Occasionally  the  bases  of  the  sessile  leaves  are  prolonged 
into  leaf-like  wings,  and  are  called  decurreiit. 

The  two  Great  Classes  of  Flowering  Plants  may  be  distinguished  generally 
by  the  venation  of  the  leaves.  Parallel-veined  leaves  are  characteristic  ot 
endogenous  plants,  while  Reticulated  or  Netted-hjeined  leaves  are  almost  uni- 
versal in  Exoge7ious  plants. 

Parallel-veined are  of  two  kinds  :  i.  Those  with  veins  all  running 
from  the  base  to  the  apex  of  the  leaf ;  and  those  where  they  run  from  the 
midrib  to  the  margin. 

Netted-veined  are  likewise  divided  into  Feather-veined  and  Radiate- 
veined. 

A  fibre  running  up  the  middle  of  the  blade,  giving  off  branches  from  each 
side,  is  called  a  Midrib. 

When  there  is  one  principal  midrib,  with  side  branches,  the  leaf  is  penni- 
veined.    When  the  ribs  spread  out  like  a  fan,  it  is  pahni-veined. 

Leaves  are  Simple  or  Compound. 

When  the  subdivisions  of  the  blade  are  all  distinctly  connected,  it  is  a 
siniple  leaf.    When  they  are  entirely  separate  it  is  a  compound  leaf. 

These  separate  parts  are  called  Leaflets.  In  a  few  cases  they  have  stipules 
of  their  own,  which  are  called  stipells. 

In  many  plants  Spijies  and  Tendrils  are  produced  in  the  place  of  leaves  or 


132 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


parts  of  leaves.  In  the  Cucumber  one  of  the  stipules  is  transformed  into  a 
tendril.    In  the  Pea  the  midrib  of  the  last  leaflet  is  a  tendril. 

Leaves  are  Linear,  — narrow,  much  longer  than  broad,  and  about  the  same 
width  throughout ;  Lance-shaped  or  Lanceolate^  —  narrow,  longer  than  wide, 
tapering  ;  Oval,  Ovate,  —  egg-shaped,  broader  at  the  base  ;  Obovate,  — 
egg-shaped,  broader  at  the  apex  ;  Orbicular  or  Rotmd ;  Spathulate j  Cuneate 
or  Wedge-shaped ;  Ensiforin,  —  shape  of  a  sword-blade. 

With  regard  to  the  shape  at  the  base.  Heart-shaped  or  Cordate ;  Kidney- 
shaped  ox  Re?iiforin;  Auricled or  Eared,  —  having  a  lobe  on  each  side  of 
the  base.  Sagittate  or  Arrow-headed j  Hastate  or  Halberd-shaped j  Peltate 
or  Shield-shaped. 

As  to  the  apex,  we  have  the  following  terms.  The  first  six  apply  to  the 
base  as  well :  — 

Pointed,  Taper-pointed,  ox  Acuminate j  Actite j  Obtuse;  Truncate;  Retuse ; 
Emarginate  or  Notched;  Obcordate,  or  inversely  heart-shaped  ;  Cuspidate  ; 
Awned  or  Aristate,  when  furnished  with  a  beard.  Mucronate,  abruptly  ter- 
minated by  a  hand-shaped  point. 

The  margins  of  leaves  are  either  Entire,  —  without  teeth  ;  or  Divided,  — 
toothed.  They  are  Dentate,  —  teeth  pointing  outward  ;  Crenate,  —  teeth 
rounded  and  broad  ;  Serrate.^  —  teeth  like  a  saw.  Bidentate,  —  large  teeth 
which  are  again  toothed  ;  Wavy  {Repand  or  Undulate)  Sinnate,  —  strongly 
wavy  or  sinuous  ;  l7tcised  or  Jagged,  —  teeth  deep  and  irregular.  Lobed  or 
Cleft,  —  blade  cut  up  into  parts. 

Compound  leaves  are  either  Pinnate,  Parnate,  or  Digitate. 

Pinnate  leaves  have  their  leaflets  arranged  along  the  sides  of  the  main 
foot-stalk. 

Palmate  or  Digitate  bear  their  leaflets  all  at  the  very  end  of  the  foot-stalk. 

Twice  and  thrice  compound  leaves  are  not  uncommon. 

When  a  leaf  is  divided  three  or  four  times  it  is  said  to  be  decompounded. 

THE  FLOWER. 

Inflorescence  is  the  mode  of  flowering,  or  the  situation  and  arrangement 
of  the  flowers  on  the  plant,  and  is  governed  by  the  same  law  that  governs  the 
arrangement  of  the  leaves,  that  is,  as  we  have  the  terminal  bud  and  the  axil- 
lary bud,  we  also  have  Terminal  Inflorescence  and  Axillary  Inflorescence. 

The  main  stalk  of  an  inflorescence  is  called  the  Peduncle.  It  may  be  sim- 
ple, bearing  one  solitary  flower  ;  or  branched,  bearing  many  flowers.  The  term 
Pedicel  is  given  to  the  stalk  of  the  individual  flower,  in  this  case.  When  the 
peduncle  arises  from  an  underground  rhizome,  as  in  the  Daisy,  it  is  called  a 
scape.    The  extremity  of  the  peduncle  is  called  the  receptacle. 

The  leaves  of  a  flower-cluster  take  the  name  of  Bracts.  A  circle  of  bracts, 
forming  around  the  lower  ends  of  the  pedicels,  is  called  Involucre.  These 
exhibit  the  same  kind  of  arrangement  as  true  leaves.  Smaller  bracts  appear- 
ing on  the  pedicels  are  called  Bractlets. 

Inflorescence  is  Centripetal  (indefinite)  as  the  Mignonette  ;  or  Centrifugal 
(definite),  as  the  Geranium. 


Structural  Botany, 


133 


The  Solitary  Flower  is  a  single  peduncle  bearing  one  flower.  There  are 
different  kinds  of  flower-clusters.  Of  those  which  bear  their  flowers  on  the 
sides  of  the  main  stalk,  in  the  axils  of  leaves  or  bracts,  the  principal  kinds  are 
the  Raceme,  the  Corymb,  the  Umbel,  the  Head,  the  Spike,  the  Paiiicle. 

A  Raceme  is  a  cluster  with  blossoms  arranged  along  the  flower-stem,  ex. 
Lily  of  the  Valley. 

A  Corymb  is  a  flat-topped  or  convex  cluster,  like  that  of  Hawthorn. 

An  Umbel  is  a  cluster  in  which  the  pedicles  all  spring  from  the  same  level, 
ex.  Milk-weed. 

A  Head  is  a  peduncle,  which,  instead  of  branching,  bears  a  great  number 
of  little  sessil  flowers,  as  the  Red  Clover. 

A  Spike  is  a  lengthened  flower-cluster  with  no  perceptible  pedicels  to  the 
flowers.  The  common  Mullein  is  a  good  example.  A  Panicle  is  an  irregu- 
larly branching,  compound  flower-cluster.  A  Catkin  is  a  spike  with  scaly 
bracts,  ex.  Willow.  A  Spadix  is  a  spike  with  small  flowers  on  a  thick  and 
fleshy  axis,  ex.  Sweet  flag.  A  Cyme  is  the  general  term  applied  to  all 
forms  of  inflorescence  in  which  the  terminal  bud  opens  first.  A  Fascicle  is 
a  close  or  very  much  crowded  cyme. 

FORMS  AND  KINDS  OF  FLOWERS. 

A  flower  answers  to  a  branch  ;  the  parts  of  the  flower  answer  to  the  leaves. 
The  outer  circle,  the  sepals,  is  sufficiently  like  a  circle  of  bracts.  In  the 
second  circle  the  petals  are  like  leaves  in  form,  and  veining,  and  in  their  division 
into  blade  or  limb,  and  claw,  which  correspond  to  blade  and  stalk  in  a  leaf. 
The  third  circle  —  the  stamens  —  again  bears  a  distant  resemblance  to  leaves, 
and  the  organs  of  the  fourth  circle  usually  return  to  the  leafy  appearance  in 
color.  The  carpels  (a  circle  of  pistils,  or  pistils  blended  into  one  large  pistil) 
are  undoubtedly  forms  of  the  leaf 

A  complete  flower  is  always  a  perfect  flower.  A  perfect  flower  is  not 
necessarily  a  complete  flower.  A  perfect  Jlozver  has  both  stamens  and 
pistils  :  an  incomplete  flower  wants  one,  at  least,  of  the  four  kinds  of  organs. 
It  may  be  Apetalous,  that  is,  having  no  petals  ;  naked,  or  Achlamydeoiis, 
having  neither  calyx  nor  corolla. 

Plants  bearing  imperfect  flowers  have  two  kinds  of  blossoms,  — staminate^ 
or  sterile,  and  pistillate,  or  fertile.  Flowers  are  syinmetrical^  having  an 
equal  number  of  parts  in  each  circle  ;  unsymmetrical^  number  of  parts  in 
each  circle  unequal ;  regular.,  all  the  organs  alike  in  form  and  size.  Irregu- 
lar, coherent,  and  adherent.  The  number  of  organs  in  each  circle  in  Dicoty- 
ledons is  five,  sometimes  four  ;  in  Monocotyledons,  three. 

The  Calyx  is  said  to  be  toothed,  cleft,  parted,  lobed.  The  united  portion  is 
called  its  tube.  The  distinct  portions  of  the  sepals  are  termed  teeth,  seg- 
ments, or  lobes,  according  to  their  length  as  compared  with  the  tube.  The 
orifice  of  the  tube  is  named  the  throat.  The  terms  regular  and  irregular 
are  applied  to  the  calyx  and  corolla,  as  well  as  to  the  whole  flower. 

The  Corolla  is  said  to  be  monopetalous  or  gamopetalous,  dipetalous, 
tripetalous,  polypetalous,  etc.,  when  it  is  composed  of  united  petals,  or  two 


134 


The  Ante  fix  Papers. 


or  many  separate  petals.  The  polypetalous  corolla^  when  regular,  may  be 
cruciate,  rosaceous,  caryophyllaceous,  liliaceous.  Among  the  irregular  poly- 
petalous  corollas  we  have  the  papilionaceous  or  butterfly-shaped  corolla,  as 
in  the  pea  tribe.  Sta^nens  are  mojiadelphoiis ,  diadelphous,  triadelphous^ 
polyadelphous,  when  their  filaments  are  united  into  one,  two,  or  more  sets. 
Stamens,  when  attached  to  the  corolla,  are  epipetalous.  Pistils  are  sifnple  or 
co77tpound.  The  partitions  which  divide  the  compound  ovary  into  cells  are 
evidently  composed  of  the  united  contiguous  portions  of  the  walls  of  the 
carpels.  They  are  called  Dissepiments.  A  single  carpel  has  no  proper 
dissepiment.  Ovules  are,  according  to  their  position,  erect.^  pendulous, 
ascending,  and  suspended.  The  ripened  ovary,  with  its  contents,  becomes 
the  FRUIT.  Simple  fruits  may  be  classified  into  fleshy  fruits,  stone  fruits, 
and  dry  fruits.  Fleshy  fruits  are  the  berry,  the  pepo,  the  pome.  Stone 
fruits  are  plums,  cherries,  and  peaches.  Fleshy  fruits  and  stone  fruits  are 
indehiscent ;  that  is,  they  do  not  split  open  when  ripe,  to  discharge  their 
seeds  ;  while  dry  fruits  are  dehiscent,  taking  the  general  name  of  pods  ;  or 
they  are  indehiscent,  of  which  the  principal  kinds  are  the  achenium  or  akene, 
the  grain  and  the  nut. 


Botany  as  Applied  to  Industrial  Art. 


135 


XVIIl. 

BOTANY  AS  APPLIED  TO  INDUSTRIAL  ART. 

You  have  had  already  a  comprehensive  essay  on  Structural  Botany.  I 
shall  proceed  to  give  you  a  few  notes  on  Botany  as  connected  with  art  and 
general  utility,  after  offering  some  slight  observations  on  structure,  —  not 
always  to  be  much  dwelt  on,  but  well  worthy  to  be  remembered  in  taking  up 
the  subject,  whether  with  reference  to  the  one  or  the  other. 

The  nature  and  kind  of  plant  maybe  at  first  determined  by  its  vernation, 
or  packing  in  the  bud  ;  its  class  by  its  being  monocotyledonous  or  dicotyle- 
donous, that  is,  possessing  one  or  two  cotyledons.  Here  we  may  observe 
of  monocotyledons  that  they  are  central  growers  or  endogens  ;  their  leaves 
clasp  the  stem  ;  they  are  parallel-veined ;  and  the  parts  of  their  flowers  are 
always  in  threes,  never  in  fives  ;  their  roots  also  are  adventitious.  Dicot- 
yledons are  outside  growers  or  exogens,  and  form  a  new  ring  of  wood  every 
year  outside  of  the  last  year's  growth.  Exogens  also  have  their  leaves  artic- 
ulated to  the  branch  and  reticulated  in  the  veining  ;  their  flowers  are  mostly 
in  parts  of  five  or  four. 

These  are  important  distinctions,  and  at  once  point  to  the  great  class  to 
which  any  individual  plant  belongs.  The  form  of  the  plant  depends  much 
upon  the  development  or  non-development  of  the  internodes,  or  spaces  be- 
tween the  nodes,  as  also  on  whether  its  buds  are  axillary  or  terminal.  We 
see  rosette-like  plants,  as  the  houseleek,  with  imbricated  leaves  crowding 
one  another,  and  find  the  internodes  between  the  leaves  and  branches 
are  undeveloped.  The  pine  family  presents  the  curiou^ fasciculated  arrange- 
ment, the  small  bunches  of  needle-like  leaves  being  undeveloped  branches. 
Were  the  internodes  developed,  we  should  have  the  usual  pine  branch,  with 
the  leaves  ranged  oppositely  or  alternately.  The  root  of  the  plant  may  be  a 
prolongation,  of  the  radicle  or  true  root,  or  it  may  be  adventitious,  where  the 
true  root  is  suppressed,  and  surrounding  rootlets  supply  its  place.  The 
growing  point  in  roots  is  always  just  behind  the  spongiole,  which  is  a  minute, 
sponge-like  body,  without  covering,  situated  on  the  end  of  the  rootlet,  — 
just  as  the  growing  point  in  the  trunk  is  in  the  cambium  layer,  immediately 
behind  the  bark. 

The  root,  stem,  and  leaves  are  all  that  distinguish  a  plant,  as  flowers  are 
but  altered  branches.    We  see  this  exemplified  in  the  monstrous  flowers 


136 


The  Antefix  Papefs, 


cultivated  by  gardeners,  where  the  parts  of  the  flower  are  transformed  into 
leaves.  A  flower  is  called  symmetrical,  if  its  parts  are  similar  and  its  num- 
bers the  same,  or  multiplications  of  a  given  number ;  bisymmetrical  when  it 
can  only  be  twice  divided,  as  in  the  violet. 

Speaking  of  the  anther,  it  may  be  sessile,  adnate,  or  versatile.  It  may 
open  in  four  distinct  ways  :  by  a  slit  along  the  top,  as  in  the  mallow  family ; 
by  two  pores,  as  in  the  azalea  and  some  heaths  ;  sometimes  a  part  of  the 
face  separates  as  a  trap-door,  hinged  at  the  top,  opening  to  discharge  the 
pollen,  as  in  the  barberry  ;  sometimes  one  half  of  the  anther  is  obliterated, 
as  in  the  globe  amaranth  of  the  garden.  The  pollen  is  very  different  in  dif- 
ferent plants,  so  that  a  plant  may  be  recognized  by  its  pollen  alone.  There 
are  four  kinds  of  ovules,  distinguished  by  the  position  in  which  the  hilum 
and  the  orifice  are  situated  with  regard  to  each  other.  When  a  plantlet  is 
developed  in  the  ovule,  it  becomes  a  seed.  Plants  will  support  themselves 
by  twining,  as  the  morning  glory ;  by  prickles,  as  goosegrass  ;  by  small 
suckers,  as  the  dodder  ;  by  short  roots,  as  the  ivy  ;  and  by  tendrils,  as  the 
pea. 

The  works  of  botanists  contain  minute  descriptions  of  more  than  80,000 
distinct  kinds  of  plants,  each  member  of  this  assemblage  having  a  name 
assigned  to  it,  and  a  character  by  which  it  may  be  distinguished  from  every 
other  known  vegetable.  The  name  is  composed  of  two  Latin  words,  —  one 
significant  of  its  genus,  or  relationship  with  plants  very  like  it,  the  other 
expressive  of  some  feature  peculiar  to  itself.  Out  of  this  simple  method  a 
scientific  language  has  arisen,  comprehended  by  botanists  throughout  the 
world.  Thus,  when  we  write  of  the  Quercus  Alba,  botanists  in  all  nations 
understand  by  the  generic  word  Quercus  a  plant  presenting  an  assemblage 
of  characteristic  organizations  such  as  are  common  to  all  oaks,  and  are  com- 
bined in  oaks  only;  and  by  the  scientific  epithet  Alba  they  understand  that 
particular  oak  to  which  we  give  familiarly  the  name  of  white  oak,  and  that  oak 
only. 

The  people  of  all  countries  and  climates,  from  the  first  appearance  of  the 
human  race,  have  applied  their  vegetable  productions  to  use.  The  spread- 
ing tree  and  its  leaves  seemed  symbolical  of  shelter  and  clothing,  whilst  its 
fruit  suggested  the  most  natural  of  foods.  However  far  our  historical 
researches  may  lead*  us,  we  can  discover  no  trace  of  an  epoch  when  the 
textile  and  coloring  uses  of  plants  were  unknown  and  unapplied.  We  find 
everywhere  erections  of  timber,  and  fabrics  woven  of  vegetable  fibre.  At  all 
times  we  see  the  evidence  that  it  is  man's  nature  to  subdue  the  vegetable 
kingdom  to  his  service. 

The  botanical  domain  is  eminently  suggestive  of  tasteful  ornament.  The 
graceful  curves  and  elegant  shapes  of  foliage,  the  droop  of  a  peduncle,  the 
symmetry  and  harmonious  coloring  of  a  flower,  —  all  sow  the  seeds  of  taste 
wherever  there  is  intelligence  to  warm  them  into  germination.  The  savage 
decorates  his  canoe  with  imperfect  images  of  the  wild  flowers  that  star  the 
thicket  around  his  hut ;  he  stains  his  body  in  patterns  with  the  bright- 
colored  juices  of  the  herbs  that  cluster  about  his  doorway  ;  out  of  the  crimson 


Botany  as  Applied  to  Industrial  Art. 


137 


berries  and  speckled  seeds,  strung  on  the  fibres  of  a  lily  or  a  grass,  he  makes 
necklaces  and  armlets  for  festal  occasions. 

Civilized  man,  whose  observing  and  reasoning  faculties  have  ripened 
through  the  genial  influences  of  education,  sees  in  the  humble  efforts  of  his 
savage  brother  the  indications  of  paths  leading  to  art,  skill,  and  discovery. 
In  pursuing  them,  he  does  not  fail  to  observe  that  all  substances  in  which 
vegetable  forms  have  been  imitated,  whether  by  modelling,  carving,  casting, 
printing,  painting,  or  inlaying,  are  not  equally  adapted  for  the  representation 
of  all  kinds  of  ornamental  plants.  Leaves  with  broad,  leathery  lobes,  borne 
on  stiff-jointed  peduncles,  suit  castings  in  bronze  and  iron,  or  carvings  in 
low  relief  on  wood ;  but  delicate  and  pinnated  foliage,  or  slender  fern  fronds, 
require  high  or  complete  relief,  and  those  intended  to  stand  out  light  and 
prominent  must  be  executed  in  the  most  precious  metals,  and  can  neither  be 
carved  nor  cut  with  natural  effect. 

It  is  curious  to  notice  how  the  native  of  the  tropics,  the  region  of  luxurious 
growth,  takes  his  clothing  and  weapons  mainly  from  the  vegetable  world. 
The  North  American  Indian  has  his  birch-bark  canoe,  a  simple  and  rapid 
yet  efficient  construction ;  and  the  wilder  tribes  of  Asia  exhibit  still  more 
abundant  evidences  of  their  ingenuity  in  turning  the  beautiful  flora  of  their 
countries  to  account.  They  make  hats  of  the  screw-palm  more  serviceable, 
and  unquestionably  more  elegant  than  the  barbarous  head-gear  of  the  West. 
They  construct  mats  and  fans  from  the  bamboo,  the  mightiest  of  grasses  ; 
floor-cloths  of  rattan,  fishing-nets  of  cotton,  and  others  woven  from  the 
fibres  of  pineapple  and  papyrus.  The  New  Zealander  weaves  or  plaits  the 
flax  of  his  country ;  and  the  inhabitant  of  the  Society  Islands  makes  mats, 
coronets,  and  cloth  of  pandanus,  sacca,  and  breadfruit-tree. 

All  plants  have  been  grouped  under  two  great  heads,  —  those  with  distinct 
flowers  and  those  apparently  flowerless,  the  former  reproducing  themselves 
by  seeds,  the  latter  by  spores.  Flowering  plants  are  regarded  as  of  higher 
organization  than  the  flowerless  ;  their  tissues  present  vascular  or  woody 
structures  which  are  but  imperfectly  developed  in  the  flowerless  plants,  and 
only  in  a  few  tribes  of  the  higher  orders 

The  most  rudimentary  forms  of  flowerless  plants  are  exceedingly  minute, 
and  approach  so  nearly  to  the  nature  of  the  lowest  forms  of  animal  life  that 
botanists  and  zoologists  are  in  doubt,  even  after  the  closest  investigation, 
respecting  their  true  position:  In  some  parts  of  the  world,  their  remains 
have  accumulated  so  as  to  form  strata  of  considerable  thickness,  serving  as 
food,  as  in  the  case  of  the  famous  bergmehl  of  Sweden,  but  more  frequently 
for  the  making  of  a  powder  used  in  polishing. 

Sea-weeds,  a  higher  step  in  vegetation,  combine  in  pretty  forms,  as  frames, 
baskets,  etc.  Some  varieties  of  algae  are  used  for  food,  as  the  Irish  moss, 
choudrus  crispus,  and  the  ulva  or  sloke  of  Britain.  The  edible  Chinese  nest 
is  constructed  of  a  sea-weed,  probably  a  species  of  gelidium.  Iodine,  much 
used  in  medicine,  is  procured  from  various  sea-weeds. 

Lichens  are  terrestrial  algae,  or  leathery  crusts,  investing  trees  and  stones. 
A  few  are  valuable  for  food,  as  Iceland  moss,  cetraria  islandica.  More 
18 


138 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


important  are  those  which  furnish  dyes,  especially  those  extracted  from  the 
genera  that  supplies  the  litmus  archil  'and  cudbear  of  commerce,  yielding 
valuable  red  and  blue  pigments. 

The  two  great  classes  of  endogens  and  exogens  into  which  the  flowering 
plants  are  divided  offer  a  vast  number  of  valuable  products.  Of  endogenous 
plants,  the  grasses  hold  a  pre-eminent  position  as  sources  of  food.  Among 
substances  adapted  for  manufacturing,  not  a  few  come  from  this  family.  The 
utility  of  the  bamboo,  some  species  of  which  attain  the  height  of  one 
hundred  feet,  has  been  already  alluded  to.  From  the  stems  of  maize  excellent 
brooms  and  mops  are  constructed,  and  straw  has  been  plaited  into  the  most 
fantastic  and  useful  forms.  The  true  palms  are  the  most  valued  of  endoge- 
nous plants  for  cabinet-making,  canes,  rattans,  cordage,  and  weapons,  as 
well  as  clothing.  The  vegetable  ivory-nut  is  the  product  of  a  palm  of  the 
genus  phytelephas.  It  is  made  into  beautiful  toys,  and  ornaments  carved 
from  the  stony  albumen  of  its  seed,  stored  up  for  the  use  of  the  embryo 
plant.  The  curious  fibre-furnishing  plant  agave,  the  uses  of  which  are  well 
known  to  the  Mexicans,  is  now  so  abundant  in  the  Mediterranean  region  as 
to  give  character  to  its  vegetation.  It  furnishes  bags,  cloaks,  and  even 
paper.  The  black  walnut  of  North  America  gives  a  wood  of  a  rich  purple- 
brown  color.    Its  capabilities  are  well  shown  in  cabinet-work. 

The  pine  tribe,  belonging  to  the  apetalous  section  of  exogenous  plants,  is 
peculiar  as  yielding  valuable  resinous  secretions,  turpentine,  Canada  balsam, 
dammar,  sandarac,  thus,  and  Burgundy  pitch.  The  pines  may  always  be 
detected  by  disk-bearing  woody  tissue,  which  can  be  seen  plainly  without  a 
magnifying  glass. 

The  great  group  of  catkin-bearing  trees  supplies  a  vast  number  of  valuable 
products,  especially  varieties  of  timber,  pre-eminently  oak,  beech,  and  birch, 
the  uses  of  which  are  almost  countless  and  the  beauty  acknowledged. 

In  the  willow  we  have  another  amentaceous  tree,  furnishing  materials  of 
value  for  domestic  purposes,  especially  the  osiers  and  chip-yielding  willows. 
The  bark  of  numerous  catkin-bearing  trees  is  of  value,  either  for  direct  use, 
or  on  account  of  furnishing  tanning  or  dyeing  substances. 

Cork  is  the  outer  bark  of  an  oak  indigenous  in  Southern  Europe.  Its 
ordinary  uses  need  not  be  named  here,  but  when  cut  into  exceedingly  thin 
sheets,  a  novel  application  has  been  made  of  it  in  the  manufacture  of  light 
hats. 

The  peculiar  sm.ell  of  Russia  leather  is  derived  from  an  oil  distilled  from 
the  common  birch,  and  which  is  used  in  its  dressing. 

The  nettle  tribe  is  a  fruitful  source  of  valuable  vegetable  products  which 
are  fibrous,  such  as  hemp  and  China  grass.  The  latter,  much  used  in  its 
native  country,  and  imported  of  late  years  into  England,  is  used  for  the 
manufacture  of  fine  cloth.  Many  of  the  figs  yield  caoutchouc,  which  is 
furnished,  also,  by  the  euphorbiacea  or  spurges.  Few  nations  besides  Britain 
and  the  United  States  apply  it  to  manufactures. 

Sandal-wood,  from  which  such  exquisite  cabinets  and  boxes  are  carved  by 
the  natives  of  India,  is  the  timber  of  trees  of  the  santalacias. 


Botany  as  Applied  to  Industrial  Art, 


139 


Fibrous  tissues  capable  of  being  woven  are  furnished  by  several  plants  of 
the  daphne  tribe,  and  the  inner  bark  of  one  of  them,  the  lazetta  lintearia,  is  a 
natural  lace  in  itself. 

Among  exogens  that  bear  a  monopetalous  corolla,  is  the  teak  tree  of  India, 
one  of  the  most  gigantic  and  valuable  of  timber  trees.  A  neighboring 
family  of  labiate  plants  are  remarkable  for  their  sweet  scents  and  aromatic 
herbs  ;  the  lavenders,  rosemarys,  hyssop,  peppermint,  and  thyme  all  yield 
volatile  oils.  The  foxgloves  and  figworts  stand  beside  them,  and  the  night- 
shades and  tobacco  plants,  with  their  associates,  the  capsicums  and  love- 
apples,  —  a  strange  meeting  in  one  family  of  man's  deadliest  enemies,  with 
several  of  his  valued  friends.  The  isonandra-gutta,  known  as  gutta-percha, 
is  one  of  the  most  useful  substances  introduced  into  the  arts  in  the  present 
century.  The  ebony  belongs  also  to  this  group.  From  the  vast  order  com- 
posit£e,  with  its  10,000  species,  food  in  many  shapes  and  medicine  in  more 
are  the  chief  contributions.  The  madders,  too,  are  useful  in  furnishing  color- 
ing matter. 

The  exogens  with  flowers,  the  petals  of  which  are  constantly  separate, 
number  among  them  many  families  serviceable  to  man.  Valuable  food-plants 
and  gum-resins  are  supplied  by  the  too-much-abused  umbellifer£e.  The 
gourds  furnish  both  food  and  vessels  to  hold  it. 

Of  all  dyes,  indigo  is  the  most  valuable  as  an  article  of  culture.  Another 
herb  of  this  tribe  supplies  the  Bengal  hemp  or  sun,  a  fibrous  substance 
of  great  strength.  Latechu  and  divi-divi  are  imported  from  the  East  for 
tanning.  Many  and  curious  are  the  balsams  of  this  family,  — gum  arable  and 
tragacanth  ;  nor  must  we  omit  tonka  beans,  tamarinds,  and  senna. 

From  the  zygophylleae  we  get  the  lignum-vitae  wood  of  the  West  Indies 

The  sinacece,  small  though  the  family  be,  hold  a  high  place,  on  account  of 
including  the  flax  plant. 

The  maples  make  beautiful  furniture  wood,  several  varieties  being  some- 
times derived  from  the  same  tree.  The  wood  of  the  sugar-maple  of  North 
America  is  the  bird's-eye,  and  also  curled  maple  of  the  cabinet-maker.  The 
gamboge  trees  furnish  well-known  resins,  curious  butters  and  oils,  as  well  as 
the  world-famed  mangosteen. 

Tea  is  the  product  of  a  plant  nearly  allied  to  the  cameHia.  Camphor  is  the 
secretion  of  a  tree  of  the  order  dipterocarpeae,  a  native  of  the  Indian  Archi- 
pelago. Cotton  is  the  hair  of  the  seed  of  certain  plants  of  the  mallow  tribe, 
of  which  some  other  kinds  produce  useful  but  less  known  fibres.  The  great 
tribe  of  cruciferae  is  remarkable  for  the  valued  food-plants  that  it  includes. 

The  indirect  influence  of  the  vegetable  world  upon  arts  and  manufac- 
tures must  not  be  passed  over.  The  share  it  has  had  in  giving  origin  to  the 
beauty  and  variety  of  furniture,  ornaments,  and  fabrics  is  too  important  not 
to  be  strongly  insisted  upon  here.  Our  silks,  cottons,  and  muslins,  our  shawls 
and  damasks,  our  sideboards  and  cabinets,  our  porcelains  and  glass,  would 
make  a  comparatively  graceless  array  were  the  infinite  variety  of  design  and 
color  suggested  by  flowers  and  fruits,  leaves  and  stems,  herbs  and  trees,  taken 
away  ;  yet  when  these  representations  are  scanned  by  a  botanist  he  is  apt  to 


140 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


regard  them  with  a  dissatisfied  eye,  not  because  they  fail  to  fulfil  the  require- 
ments of  scientific  accuracy,  but  on  account  of  the  ignorance  they  too  often 
display  of  the  riches  suited  to  the  designer's  purpose,  lying  almost  within  his 
grasp,  had  he  known  where  and  how  to  seek  them.  A  small  amount  of 
botanical  knowledge  would  prove  very  profitable  to  the  draughtsman.  Science 
would  teach  him  how  every  stem  is  adapted  for  its  own  peculiar  style  of  foli- 
age, and  how  an  incongruous  mixture  of  leaves,  fruits,  and  flowers  cannot 
give  the  pleasure  to  the  eye  that,  even  when  it  is  uneducated,  it  so  rapidly 
and  delightfully  derives  from  the  contemplation  of  combinations  whose  ele- 
ments are  truthful.  The  leaf  of  a  monocotyledonous  plant  attached  to  the 
flower  of  a  dicotyledon  strikes  the  spectator  who  has  no  knowledge  of 
botanical  science  as  unnatural ;  for  the  eye  learns,  compares,  and  recollects, 
even  when  the  understanding  is  obscure  and  cloudy.  To  the  botanist,  who 
sees  heaven-devised  beauties  and  the  manifestations  of  divine  foresight  and 
love  in  all  the  structures  and  stages  of  vegetable  organisms,  such  mistakes 
are  still  more  oifensive.  The  mere  literal  copying  of  nature  is  not  what 
is  demanded.  The  value  to  a  designer  of  the  scientific  comprehension  of  his 
models  is  the  insight  it  gives  him  of  the  possible  in  the  original,  and  the 
inexhaustible  sources  of  grace  and  beauty,  whence  so  much  that  is  new  may 
be  derived. 

The  parts  of  a  plant  which  most  readily  lend  themselves  to  ornament  are 
the  branches,  leaves,  and  flowers.  We  have  observed  in  plants  certain  laws 
and  principles  which  are  both  beautiful  and  adaptive,  giving  us  food  for  medi- 
tation and  supplying  ideas  indispensable  to  the  designer,  ist.  Repetition, 
radiating  from  a  common  centre,  as  in  a  flower.  2d.  Elongated  repetition,  as 
in  the  branching  of  a  plant,  when  it,  in  each  part,  repeats  the  parent.  3d. 
Extended  repetition,  as  in  the  mistletoe,  chickweed,  compound  umbel,  and 
hemlock.  4th.  Repetition  of  a  spot  or  part,  as,  looking  at  the  primrose  from 
above,  it  is  starred.  5th.  Repetition  with  variation,  illustrated  by  the  petals 
of  the  mignonette.  Here  are  a  number  of  club-shaped  bodies  all  on  one 
plan,  yet  all  differing  in  form  ;  there  is  a  repetition,  yet  it  is  with  variation. 
This  may  be  further  illustrated  by  the  honeysuckle  ornament,  which  is  bor- 
rowed from  a  plant  the  flower  of  which  is  modelled  on  the  same  principle. 
6th.  There  is  also  that  form  of  repetition  which  corresponds  with  the  side 
view  of  trees.  But  it  is  impossible,  in  an  essay,  to  do  more  than  glance  at 
this  great  subject,  and  I  must  now  conclude,  reminding  you  who  are  chiefly 
interested  in  it  as  it  regards  art,  that  we,  enjoying  the  experience  of  past 
ages  with  the  opportunities  of  the  present,  should  endeavor  as  much  as  in  us 
lies  to  contribute  to  make  this  distinguished  as  the  era  of  pure  taste  and 
enlightened  culture,  leaving  for  the  future  much  to  exult  in  and  to  imitate. 
Before  we  ,can  originate,  however,  anything  really  estimable,  the  mind  must 
be  instructed,  capacities  exercised,  and  enthusiasm  fired  by  the  beautiful  and 
endless  varieties  of  nature.  Let  our  standard  be  low,  and  we  shall  never 
rise  to  a  high  level ;  but  with  the  glorious  works  of  the  great  Creator  before 
us,  who  can  resist  their  ennobling  influence  or  fail  to  do  his  part  towards 
extending  it  to  mankind  ? 


Application  of  Ornament  to  Industrial  Purposes.  141 


XIX. 

APPLICATION    OF   ORNAMENT   TO  INDUSTRIAL 

PURPOSES. 

In  studying  the  history  of  the  past  we  find,  in  passing  from  one  stage  of 
civilization  to  that  which  preceded  it,  a  condition  of  development  in  which 
humanity  became  conscious  of  needs  unsupplied.  As  those  needs  became 
defined  and  imperative,  they  assumed  forms  which  supplied  them,  and  the 
history  of  industrial  art  commenced. 

When  we  analyze  man's  first  necessities  we  find  food,  shelter,  and  covering 
for  the  body,  for  warmth  in  a  cold  climate,  the  three  primary  needs  of  a  human 
being.  Food  was  furnished  by  the  fruits  that  grow  without  cultivation,  by 
roots,  twigs,  bark,  etc.,  and  the  flesh  of  animals.  Shelter  was  limited  to 
holes  dug  in  the  earth,  caves,  mounds  raised  around  stakes  to  give  stability 
to  central  cavities,  or  to  rude  erections  of  poles  covered  with  skins  or 
thatched  with  reeds  ;  and  from  such  rude  efforts  to  obtain  shelter  as  the 
shaping  of  trees  so  as  to  support  skins  in  a  proper  manner,  the  breaking  of 
rocks  to  be  used  more  advantageously  —  have  been  developed  the  wondrous 
structures  of  beauty  which  now  exist,  with  all  their  wealth  of  ornamentation. 
The  skins  of  animals,  feathers  rudely  arranged,  plaited  leaves,  reeds,  etc., 
were  used  for  covering,  the  rudely  plaited  leaves  took  the  place  of  the 
blanket,  the  accepted  symbol  of  all  textile  art ;  while  from  the  rude  weapons 
which  ingenuity  provided  we  may  trace  the  discovery  and  use  of  metals, 
which  science  and  skill  are  still  employed  in  adapting  to  so  many  purposes, 
and  enriching  by  every  decorative  process. 

After  the  means  of  supplying  these  wants  were  equal  to  the  demand, 
the  same  spirit  of  progress  which  actuates  us  to-day  would  suggest  a  seat 
other  than  the  ground  or  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  etc. ;  something  to  place  food 
upon  and  to  convey  it  from  place  to  place,  other  than  the  human  hand  ;  while 
at  night  the  dew  and  moisture  of  the  soil  would  suggest  a  structure  upon 
which  to  rest  in  comfort,  warmth,  and  safety,  and  thus  gradually,  the  means  of 
living  like  civilized  beings  would  be  acquired.  Born  of  man's  first  necessi- 
ties, the  industrial  arts  increased  and  multiplied  as  population  increased,  and 
became  refined  and  perfected  as  civilization  and  general  education  carried 
man  onward  in  the  scale  of  being.  Thus  we  find  that  to  trace  the  history  of 
industrial  art  is  to  trace  the  history  of  civilization. 


142 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


Man's  first  technical  condition  was  that  of  a  creature  working  to  supply  his 
own  necessities.  His  second  condition  would  be  that  of  one  working  to  supply 
by  his  labor  the  wants  of  others  as  well  as  his  own.  Hence  came  the  idea  of  pay- 
ing and  receiving  pay  for  labor,  and  according  to  the  facility  with  which  man 
could  labor  and  the  demand  which  existed  for  his  labor,  he  gradually  gained  a 
greater  or  less  ascendency  over  others,  and  an  accumulation  of  whatever  me- 
dium of  exchange  represented  the  value  of  labor.  As  soon  as  the  idea  of  pay- 
ing and  receiving  pay  for  labor  gained  force  in  men's  minds,  the  principle  of 
manufacture  was  established.  Men  set  themselves  to  work  to  produce  with  as 
little  labor  as  possible,  and  at  as  little  cost,  what  they  considered  others  would 
be  most  likely  to  pay  well  for.  Communities  began  to  do  what  individuals  had 
done,  namely,  to  barter  what  they  could  easily  and  cheaply  produce,  for  that 
which  would  be  either  costly  or  difficult  for  them  to  obtain,  and  out  of  this  the 
spirit  of  commerce  was  evolved.  Thus  men  gradually  came  to  minister  to  one 
another's  necessities.  A  supply  was  finally  produced  in  excess  of  demand,  and 
ornamentation  was  added  to  construction,  creating  a  value  outside  and  above 
absolute  need,  —  a  new  source  of  demand  requiring  a  corresponding  supply. 

Those  branches  of  industrial  art  into  which  design  and  ornamentation 
have  in  all  ages  most  conspicuously  entered,  may  be  classified  as  follows  :  — 

1.  Constructive  arts.  Those  in  which  a  desired  result  is  obtained  by  an 
aggregation  of  parts,  useless  or  inexpressive  in  themselves,  yet  fulfilling  all 
the  demands  of  primitive  structure. 

2.  Sculptured  industry,  that  is,  any  application  of  sculpture  to  industry, 
produced  by  working  in  either  hard  or  plastic  substances. 

3.  Ceramic  art,  including  all  forms  of  hardening  clays  by  fire,  and  ulti- 
mately of  decorating  them  and  fixing  the  decoration. 

4.  Vitreous  art,  including  the  formation  and  decoration  of  glass  in  all 
ways,  and  the  adaptation  of  the  principle  of  glass-making  as  a  covering  or 
decoration  to  other  materials. 

5.  Metallic  art,  by  which  is  meant  all  the  processes  of  the  extraction  and 
manipulation  of  metals,  whether  taken  alone  or  in  combination  with  other 
materials  used  in  structure  or  decoration. 

6.  Textile  art,  comprising  everything  worked  in  the  loom  or  formed  or 
decorated  by  the  needle. 

7.  Pictorial  industry,  including  surface  decoration,  in  whatever  way  or  by 
whatever  means  applied. 

Technical  excellence  partially  consists  in  the  apportionment  of  neither  too 
much  nor  too  little  material  to  every  purpose. 

A  simple  form  is  more  beautiful  than  a  complex  one,  and  that  which  best, 
answers  its  end  will  always  look  best. 

True  beauty  results  from  that  repose  which  the  mind  feels  when  the  eye, 
the  intellect,  and  the  affections  are  satisfied.  In  considering  design  adapted 
to  ornamentation  the  only  sound  standard  is  that  which  requires  that  the  orna- 
ment shall  increase  the  beauty  of  useful  objects  without  limiting  their  useful- 
ness. The  ornamentation  of  an  article  is  something  which  is  not  necessary 
to  its  use,  and  the  ornament  is  bad  which  interferes  with  that  use  or  limits  it 


Application  of  Ornament  to  Industrial  Purposes.  143 


in  any  way.  An  excess  of  ornament  is  not  enrichment,  it  is  merely  ostenta- 
tious vulgarity.  A  lavish  profusion  of  ornament  is  often  resorted  to,  to  cover 
inferior  work  in  construction. 

Construction  may  be  decorated,  but  decoration  should  never  be  con- 
structed. 

Flowers  or  other  natural  objects  should  not  be  be  used  as  ornaments,  but 
conventional  representations  founded  upon  them,  sufficiently  suggestive  to 
convey  the  intended  image  to  the  mind  without  destroying  the  unity  of  the 
object  they  are  employed  to  decorate. 

Conventionalism  is  a  first  necessity  in  ornamentation. 

The  lower  the  office  and  the  less  tractable  the  material  of  an  object,  the  less 
of  nature  should  be  contained  in  the  ornament  applied  to  it,  until  a  zigzag 
becomes  the  best  ornament  for  the  hem  of  a  robe,  and  a  mosaic  of  colored 
glass  the  best  design  for  a  colored  window.  All  right  conventionalism  is  a 
wise  acceptance  of,  and  compliance  with,  conditions  of  restraint  or  inferiority, 
and  all  these  lower  forms  of  art  are  to  be  conventional,  only  because  they  are 
subordinate,  and  not  because  conventionalism  is  in  iiself  a  good  or  desirable 
thing. 

Now,  this  great  and  most  precious  principle  may  be  compromised  in  two  ways. 
It  is  compromised,  on  one  side,  when  men  suppose  that  the  degradation  of  the 
natural  form  which  fits  it  for  some  subordinate  place  is  an  improvement  upon  it, 
and  that  a  black  profile  on  a  red  ground,  because  proper  for  a  water-jug,  is 
therefore  "  an  idealization  of  humanity,  and  a  nobler  work  of  art  than  a  picture  by 
Titian."  It  is  compromised  as  gravely,  on  the  opposite  side,  when  men  refuse  to 
submit  to  the  limitation  of  material  and  the  fitness  to  purpose  ;  when  they  try  to 
produce  finished  pictures  in  colored  glass,  and  substitute  the  incomplete  imi- 
tation of  natural  objects  for  the  perfectness  of  adapted  and  disciplined  design. 

Under  the  first  class  of  industrial  arts  we  find  the  parent  of  all  arts, 
architecture,  standing  almost  alone  as  a  common  basis  to  the  Fine  and 
Industrial  Arts.  Architecture  is  the  material  expression  of  the  wants,  the 
faculties,  and  the  sentiments  of  the  age  in  which  it  is  created. 

Style,  in  architecture,  is  the  peculiar  form  that  expression  takes,  under  the 
influence  of  climate  and  material  at  command. 

A  great  deal  of  the  distinction  between  building  and  architecture,  between 
use  and  beauty,  consists  in  understanding  the  true  position  of  each  in  relation 
to  man's  necessities  and  his  aspirations,  and  this  must  enter  into  the  study  of 
one  who  would  fit  himself  to  perform  the  duties  of  an  architect  nobly. 

With  regard  to  materials,  there  seems  good  ground  for  supposing  that  the 
natural  products  of  a  locality  are  the  best,  and  it  certainly  comes  within  the 
range  of  art  to  use  native  materials  to  the  best  advantage. 

Where  these  are  manifold,  a  pleasing  contrast  of  color  may  be  produced  by 
the  use  of  several  kinds  in  one  building.  This  association  of  color  in  material 
is  not  the  first  step  in  ornamentation,  but  the  second.  The  first  is  the  forma- 
tion of  lines  in  the  construction,  either  in  the  shape  of  mouldings  or  masses 
of  material. 

Some  of  the  most  pleasing  architectural  effects  are  obtained  by  employing 


144         I  "^he  Antefix  Papers. 

strong  material,  like  granite,  for  shafts  and  columns,  a  different  stone  to  make 
string  courses  or  bands  of  horizontallines,  and  a  third  to  form  the  plain  wall, 
and  mass  of  coloring. 

There  is  considerable  danger,  however,  of  overdoing  this  work  in  colored 
material,  and  its  judicious  employment  requires  very  great  skill  in  the  designer. 

It  is  as  easy  to  place  light  and  dark  colors  in  the  wrong  place  in  a  building 
as  in  a  picture  ;  and  as  a  rule,  the  effect  has  been  found  the  most  pleasing 
when  the  lighter  material  forms  the  main  part  of  the  structure,  and  the 
darker  is  used  for  enrichment.  Pleasing  contrasts  may  also  be  obtained  by 
polished  and  dead  surfaces  in  marble  and  granite,  or  of  glazed  brick  and  tiles 
in  brick-work. 

Relief  ornament  for  architectural  enrichment  should  be  a  contrast  of 
planes  ;  the  outer  leaves,  if  in  foliage,  should  be  concave,  the  inner  convex  ; 
as  the  concave  surface  absorbs,  and  the  convex  radiates  light.  If  foliage 
ornament  is  to  be  gilded,  the  lines  must  be  deeper  cut,  the  outline  more 
clearly  defined  than  otherwise,  as  gilding  will  produce  an  effect  like  a 
polished  surface.  In  subordinate  parts,  the  decoration  may  be  less  dis- 
tinctive in  character,  with  a  flatter  surface.  As  projection  produces  shadow, 
so  flatness  ensures  light,  and  hence  the  lowest  relief  is  best  fitted  for  an 
invariably  dark  situation.  The  flatness  which  ensures  light  would,  however, 
be  indistinct  and  formless,  unless  the  outlines  were  clearly  cut  and  con- 
spicuous at  the  first  glance.  This  is  effected  by  abruptly  sinking  the  edges  of 
the  forms  to  the  plane  from  which  they  are  raised,  instead  of  gradually  round- 
ing and  thus  losing  them.  In  many  instances,  the  sides  are  under-cut,  and  thus 
present  a  deeper  line  of  shadow.  This  device  gives  to  a  work  in  an  obscure 
situation,  the  effect  of  rotundity.  Flat  relief  is  not  always  intended  to  appear 
so,  and  is  better  applied  to  interior  decorations,  for  in  the  open  air  it  often 
appears  too  flat  and  otherwise  indistinct. 

Moulding  should  be  cut  to  a  greater  depth  in  dark  material  to  produce 
marked  contrasts  of  light  and  shade,  than  in  light  material.  The  designer 
should  be  acquainted  with  the  laws  of  the  projections  of  shadows,  and  all  the 
varying  conditions  of  illumination  under  which  his  work,  or  any  parts  or 
portions  of  it,  are  ever  likely  to  be  seen.  He  should  know  all  the  laws  of  chi- 
aro-oscuro,  and  appreciate  the  extent  to  which,  by  a  dexterous  management  of 
them,  he  may  be  enabled  to  concentrate  the  spectator's  attention  upon  one 
part  of  his  work,  and  to  cause  another  to  sink  into  a  secondary  or  altogether 
subordinate  position.  He  should  know  how  to  heighten  effects  of  light  by 
judicious  contrast  with  strongly-concentrated  shadows,  and  how  reflections 
from  highly-illuminated  surfaces,  thrown  upon  parts  in  shade,  produce  deli- 
cate half-tints  upon  receding  mouldings,  so  that  he  may  be  able  to  soften  the 
deepest  black  of  any  shadow  into  harmony  with  the  highly-illuminated 
surface  by  which  the  shadow  may  be  projected.  He  must  make  himself 
acquainted  with  the  artistic  value  of  the  advancing  or  retiring  qualities  of 
colors,  both  in  full  light  and  in  every  degree  of  shadow,  so  that  when  he  is 
called  upon  to  use  materials  of  varying  tint,  he  may  know  how  to  reconcile 
inconsistencies,  and  maintain  an  equal  balance  between  parts  which,  without 
a  wise  distribution,  would  inevitably  cause  an  appearance  of  feebleness. 


Application  of  Ornament  to  Industrial  Purposes.  145 


But  all  our  decorations  should  not  be  placed  on  the  outside.  Interiors 
should  not  be  supposed  to  have  attained  the  end  of  their  existence  when  the 
walls  are  finished  enough  to  admit  of  their  being  inhabited.  The  decorative 
artist  may  do  a  great  deal  towards  breathing  a  soul  into  rooms  which  without 
his  aid  would  appear  dead.  Every  part  will  suggest  its  own  appropriate  use, 
and  every  ornament  will  help  to  create  a  beauty  outside  of  itself,  when  it  is 
subordinate  to  the  uses  of  the  room  it  is  employed  to  adorn.  The  pervading 
sentiment  of  a  beautiful  home  is  harmony  and  repose.  To  the  visitor,  coming 
from  the  glare  of  the  crowded  street,  a  grateful  and  hospitable  welcome  is 
extended  by  every  object  that  meets  his  eye.  The  best  principles  of  interior 
and  surface  decorations  have  been  given  us,  and  the  objects  placed  in  a  room 
must  be  chosen  to  correspond  with  such  decorations  and  the  use  of  the  room. 

The  earliest  Egyptian  paintings  furnish  us  with  illustrations  of  furniture 
apparently  very  simply  wrought,  but  always  in  very  graceful  lines,  with  the 
parts  arranged  in  a  judicious  and  workmanlike  manner.  The  beds  or 
couches  appear  to  be  both  simple  and  elegant.  Assyrian  seats  and  footstools 
are  no  less  complete  and  well  suited  to  their  purposes  than  similar  articles 
among  the  Egyptians.  In  all  these  archaic  specimens  of  furniture  there  is  a 
simplicity  of  style  thoroughly  satisfactory  to  the  eye.  There  is  never  any 
question  as  to  function.  All  are  ornamented  where  ornament  can  be  satisfac- 
torily introduced,  so  as  not  to  interfere  with  the  use  or  appearance  of  use  of  the 
object,  and  ornament  is  always  added  by  a  process  analogous  to  that  by  which 
the  object  has  been  wrought.  Superadded  or  inlaid  ornament  is  never  obtru- 
sive, and  the  eye  never  desires  its  removal.  If  not  positively  essential  to  con- 
struction, it  always  harmonizes  with  it,  and  never  runs  counter  to  it ;  is  never 
omitted  where  it  seems  to  be  wanted,  nor  added  where  it  can  be  dispensed 
with.  The  grain  of  the  wood  must  be  considered  in  designs  and  ornaments 
applied  to  chairs,  etc.  Strength  means  straightness  and  squareness  ;  curva- 
ture means  weakness  and  liability  to  destruction  in  use.  Very  high  relief 
and  very  round,  delicate  carvings  are  bad,  because  wood  will  split,  and  parts 
will  warp  and  crack  off.  Carvings  should  be  in  low  relief,  in  recessed  or 
sunken  portions  of  the  form,  both  for  their  own  protection  and  its  more  grati- 
fying enrichment.  In  enriching  furniture  with  inlays  of  various  colors,  harmony 
of  color  with  the  fabric  used  for  covering,  must  be  taken  into  consideration. 

The  broadest  definition  which  may  be  given  to  the  art  of  sculpture,  is  that  it 
is  a  means  whereby  the  emotion  of  pleasure  can  be  conveyed  to  the  intellect 
through  man's  fashioning  of  the  images  of  his  mind  into  solid  forms.  These 
images,  from  the  earliest  ages,  have  assumed  two  forms,  the  one  isolated, 
the  other  combined.  In  the  isolated  form  they  have  generally  constituted 
tangible  symbols  or  embodiment  of  ideas.  The  god  and  the  hero  have  been 
the  earliest  types.  In  the  combined  form,  the  art  of  the  sculptor  is  so  inti- 
mately connected  with  that  of  the  architect  as  to  be  all  but  inseparable. 
Man  probably  learned  how  to  cut  away  rock  in  endeavoring  to  make  for  him- 
self durable  and  permanent  shelter.  So  soon  as  the  technical  process  of 
cutting  material  into  shapes  at  will  was  acquired,  a  ready  means  of  ornament- 
ing structure  was  available. 

19 


146 


The  Aiitefix  Papers. 


By  means  of  sculpture,  structure  was  not  only  made  more  beautiful,  but 
became  marked  and  identified  with  times  and  peoples,  their  legends,  their 
faith,  and  their  works.  To  understand  the  various  ways  in  which  sculpture 
may  be  used  for  ornamentation,  it  is  well  to  notice  the  varieties  of  relief  in 
which  the  artist  is  able  to  represent  his  design.  He  may  represent  any 
image  or  group  in  completely  solid  form,  and  in  the  full  dimensions  in  which 
he  may  see  and  place  his  model.  This  is  known  as  working  in  the  round ; 
and  so  long  as  a  sculptor  adheres  to  what  is  called  the  round,  he  must  deal 
with  the  form  in  the  same  sections  and  with  the  various  contouring  surfaces 
in  the  same  position  in  which  they  exist  in  his  model,  subject  to  such  devia- 
tions as  the  conventions  of  his  art  require. 

In  alto-rilievo  the  sculptor  simply  places  a  solid  and  generally  flat  backing 
behind  any  figure  he  may  model  in  the  round.  The  flatness  of  this  backing, 
and  the  limit  of  space  within  which  the  figures  have  to  be  contained,  necessi- 
tates a  disposition  of  the  figures  in  their  leading  actions,  in  planes  parallel 
with  the  surface  of  the  backing,  but  subject  to  such  laws  of  disposition  as  have 
been  referred  to.  In  alto-rilievo  the  sculptor  gives  his  forms  the  full  devel- 
opment which  they  exhibit  in  nature.  In  cases  where  the  depth  is  limited  it 
may  be  necessary  to  sink  a  portion  of  the  figure  into  the  background.  It  is 
still  regarded  as  alto-rilievo  until  one  half  its  depth  from  back  to  front  is  sunk. 
In  that  case  it  is  known  as  mezzo-rilievo,  and  in  all  varieties  of  depth  from 
back  to  front,  from  half  the  substance  down  to  that  flatness  characteristic  of 
sculpture  upon  medals,  the  work  remains  in  basso  rilievo. 

When  the  flatness  is  such  that  scarcely  anything  but  a  flat  picture  is  left, 
"  stiacciato  "  rilievo  is  obtained.  As  a  general  rule  it  becomes  necessary  to 
flatten  every  part  according  to  a  scale  obtained  by  laying  out  on  a  straight 
line  the  full  dimensions  of  the  depth  of  every  part  of  the  model,  and  then 
applying  that  line  at  such  an  angle  to  the  surface  of  the  background  of  the 
bas-relief  as  may  allow  its  whole  extent  to  be  comprised  within  the  parallel 
planes  of  the  back  of  the  bas-relief  and  a  plane  parallel  to  it,  beyond  which 
none  of  the  parts  shall  project.  The  contour  or  outline  of  every  form  retains 
a  natural  scale. 

When  the  relief  is  to  be  seen  from  a  great  distance  it  is  necessary  to  raise 
the  parts  which  meet  the  background  more  from  the  ground  than  if  a  strict 
scale  of  projection  was  followed.  When  it  is  closely  inspected  the  forms 
although  almost  lost  in  the  background  may  yet  be  clearly  perceptible. 

In  designs  for  relief  every  principal  part  necessary  for  telling  the  story  must 
be  exhibited. 

A  certain  open  display  is  generally  adopted,  and  shadows,  or  the  forms  which 
project  them,  so  disposed  as  to  present  at  first  glance  an  intelligible  appearance. 
When  the  shadows  are  suppressed  the  general  form  becomes  indistinct. 

In  imitating  nature,  the  imitation  should  be  least  truthful  in  objects  which 
by  their  nature  appertain  to  the  material  in  which  the  sculpture  is  executed. 
A  flower  may  be  imitated  in  marble  with  an  approximation  to  direct  imitation 
that  would  be  quite  unfitting  in  a  coarser  stone.  Things  which  are  imitated 
should  never  be  so  imitated  as  to  make  us  conscious  of  the  stubbornness  of 


Application  of  Ornament  to  Industrial  Purposes.  147 


the  material  in  which  they  are  wrought,  or  of  its  different  texture  and 
strength. 

What  the  nature  of  the  ornamentation  should  be,  must  obviously  be  dictated 
by  various  considerations,  of  which  the  first  is  the  destination  and  purpose 
of  the  work  in  hand.  To  design  a  figure  or  ornamentation  for  a  church  is 
one  thing,  for  a  theatre  another,  for  a  conservatory  yet  another.  The  scale  upon 
which  the  work  is  to  be  executed  will  also  limit  it.  The  treatment  of  a  bas- 
relief  to  be  placed  high  up  on  the  facade  of  a  public  building,  ought  to  be 
absolutely  different  from  that  of  one  to  be  introduced  into  a  drawing-room 
chimney-piece,  or  used  as  ornament  for  a  piece  of  furniture.  Above  all,  the 
honest  truth  must  be  told  in  everything.  There  is  probably  no  department  of 
ancient  industry  in  which  the  genius  of  the  art-workman  is  exhibited  in  a  more 
concentrated  form  than  in  cutting  gems  ;  and  in  applying  sculpture  to  ornament 
the  Glyptic  art  must  not  be  omitted.  From  the  most  remote  antiquity  the 
engraved  gem  was  the  universal  token  of  dominion. 

The  two  terms  used  to  characterize  ancient  gems  have  been  generally  adopted 
into  art  language  as  expressive  of  the  two  kinds  of  sculpture  in  which  they 
were  executed,  so  that  it  may  be  well  to  speak  of  the  difference  between  Intaglio 
and  Cameo. 

In  Intaglio,  the  image  is  cut  into  the  material ;  in  Cameo,  the  ground  is 
cut  away  from  about  the  image,  leaving  it  in  more  or  less  high  relief. 

Judging  from  the  enormous  quantities  of  these  gems  still  extant,  they 
must  have  been  used  by  the  ancients  in  great  profusion,  particularly  by  the 
Greeks  and  Romans.  What  the  one  craved  as  an  intellectual  enjoyment, 
the  other  demanded  as  the  attribute  and  symbol  of  wealth.  Not  only  were 
they  used  for  personal  adornment,  but  to  ornament  every  object  to  which 
they  would  be  applied. 

Although  it  is  in  connection  with  architecture  that  sculpture  finds  its 
noblest  adaptation,  it  is  more  or  less  intimately  connected  with  the  orna- 
mentation of  most  of  the  industrial  arts. 

In  the  four  operations  by  means  of  which  sculpture  has  ever  been  exe- 
cuted, it  is  brought  into  connection  with  various  materials.  These  four  oper- 
ations are  cutting,  modelling,  fusing,  and  beating.  The  operation  of  cutting 
transforms  granite,  marble,  stone,  wood,  ivory,  precious  stones,  etc.,  from 
shapeless  forms  into  works  of  rare  beauty.  The  operation  of  modelling 
develops  forms  out  of  any  soft  matter  that  can  be  converted  into  an 
approximation  to  hardness.  The  third  operation,  of  fusing,  came  into  use 
with  the  knowledge  of  the  means  of  extracting  metals  from  their  ores,  and 
of  that  property  of  metals  which  allows  them  to  become  fluid  by  the 
action  of  heat,  and  to  return  to  solidity  on  cooling.  The  last  operation,  that 
of  beating,  required  the  knowledge  of  the  relative  ductility  of  metal  under 
various  conditions. 

Thus  we  see  there  are  but  few  materials  upon  which  the  art  of  sculpture  may 
not  be  employed  as  a  means  of  enrichment  ;  and  as  the  love  for  it  seems 
to  be  a  simple  natural  instinct,  we  look  for  it  more  and  more  in  familiar  house- 
hold objects.    We  must  guard  against  superabundance,  degenerating  into 


148 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


inferiority,  as  the  means  of  supply  increase.  The  best  way  of  doing  this  is  to 
keep  applied  sculpture  within  its  proper  limits,  and  not  employ  it  at  the 
expense  of  simplicity,  elegance  of  form,  and  propriety  of  use  in  the  object 
to  be  enriched,  as,  in  common  with  all  ornamention,  when  wrongly  used  it 
disfigures,  as  much  as  when  rightly  used  it  adorns.  The  word  sculpture  has 
been  used  as  embracing  all  relief  ornament,  which  is  the  application  of 
sculpture  to  industrial  purposes,  in  the  same  way  that  surface  or  flat  orna- 
ment may  be  used  to  signify  the  industrial  application  of  painting. 

It  is  evident  that  the  underlying  principles  by  which  ornamentation  is 
properly  and  skilfully  applied  to  industrial  purposes,  are  the  same  in  every 
branch,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  designer  to  acquaint  himself  with  the  pecu- 
liar limitations  of  material  and  manufacture  of  each  object  or  article,  and  to 
limit  his  designs  to  their  capabilities. 

In  past  times  the  producer  and  consumer  of  an  article  were  brought  into 
^rect  communication,  and  the  thing  produced  was  sure  to  correspond  to  the 
conditions  of  civilization  common  to  both,  and  to  be  beautiful  according  to 
the  then  existing  perceptions  of  beauty  and  actual  measure  of  intelligence. 
But  in  our  time,  when  everything  is  manufactured  in  abundance,  with  a  thought 
of  possible  storage  awaiting  demand,  the  object  is  stamped  with  a  character 
of  generalization  instead  of  particular  adaptation.  The  design  must  have 
reference  to  the  wants  of  the  trade  and  the  needs  of  the  masses.  It  follows 
then  that,  though  things  beautiful  may  be  and  are  manufactured,  they  are  too 
often  those  of  exceptional  use,  rich  and  costly,  coming  within  the  scope  of 
but  few,  while  objects  that  pursue  us  everywhere  are  left  to  chance  or  the 
fancy  of  those  who  have  little  care  for  fitness  and  beauty  combined;  work- 
men whose  only  thought  is  the  moderate  cost  of  manufacture,  and  whose 
trust  is  the  general  demand  to  ensure  sale. 

Ornament  is  not  a  necessity  to  use,  but  it  is  a  necessity  to  develop  the 
highest,  noblest  faculties  of  our  nature,  to  harmonize  and  centralize  our 
thoughts  and  aspirations.  As  we  individualize  ourselves,  we  stamp  the  mark 
of  our  individuality  on  all  we  create  ;  and  if  our  creations  are  harmonious, 
in  the  whole  as  well  as  in  detail,  they  will  appeal  to  the  innate  sense  of  fitness 
in  every  one,  and  be  in  demand.  As  with  individuals  so  with  nations  ;  and  in 
this  sense,  taste  and  culture  become  of  commercial  value,  —  commodities  to 
be  bought  and  sold,  at  a  fixed  market  rate. 

Most  of  us  shrink  from  the  task  of  attempting  much  in  design,  finding  that  the 
power  to  produce  suitable  and  beautiful  designs  is  not  inherent  in  our  nature  ; 
and  not  only  this,  but  that  the  knowledge  required  is  so  extensive,  embracing  so 
many  subjects  we  have  not  been  familiar  with,  with  the  addition  of  creative 
power,  that  we  care  not  to  make  the  effort  to  acquire  it.  We  have  also  learned 
that  it  is  no  easy  task  to  overrule  existing  ideas  and  practices,  and  create  a 
demand  for,  as  well  as  to  furnish  a  supply  of  beautiful  things  for  the  most  com- 
mon uses  of  life ;  and  as  defective  supply  only  follows  defective  demand,  the 
ability  to  appreciate  better  things  must  first  be  developed  among  the  people. 
This,  from  the  position  we  have  taken  and  hope  to  take  in  the  educational  arena, 
seems  to  be  our  province  ;  and  to  educate  ourselves  to  be  honest  and  true  as 


Application  of  Ornament  to  Industrial  Purposes. 


149 


teachers  leaves  little  chance  for  idle  eyes,  idle  hands,  or  idle  dreams.  It  is 
impossible  for  any  to  form  right  ideas  of  the  harmony  of  color,  impossible  to 
arrive  at  a  perfect  adaptation  of  parts  in  objects,  decorations,  etc.,  without  a 
knowledge  of,  and  an  association  with,  such  harmonies  and  combinations. 
The  most  perfect  eye  and  skilful  hand,  combined  with  creative  power,  if 
human,  cannot  long  continue  to  produce  beauty  and  fitness  in  design,  unless 
they  are  surrounded  by  beautiful  objects  in  nature  and  art  to  nourish  and 
support  them.  It  is  evidently  a  duty  we  owe  ourselves  to  gather  about  us 
objects  that  have  a  value  beyond  use,  that  will  suggest  harmony,  beauty,  and 
repose,  and  prepare  us  to  awaken  in  those  with  whom  we  come  in  contact  an 
appreciation  of  a  greater  excellence  in  the  useful  articles  of  every-day  life. 
Thus  we  may  help  to  develop  out  of  this  first  effort  to  establish  a  public 
school  of  art  in  America,  a  power  which  shall  fill  American  homes,  from 
highest  to  lowest,  with  objects  which  shall  refine  and  ennoble  the  American 
nature,  raising  its  standard  of  excellence,  winning  it  to  a  nobler  culture,  that 
shall  make  our  country  rank  second  to  none  in  art  education. 


Ihe  Antefix  Papers. 


XX. 

ORNAMENT  AS  APPLIED  TO  INDUSTRIAL 
PURPOSES. 

It  seems  to  be  a  somewhat  difficult  matter  to  treat  this  subject  properly 
without  overstepping  its  strict  bounds,  or  at  least  trenching  upon  the  ground 
covered  by  other  essays  which  form  a  part  of  this  series.  I  shall  endeavor, 
however,  to  keep  very  near  the  dividing  line,  passing  over,  it  may  be,  here 
and  there,  where  some  root  of  my  subject  has  pierced  the  loose  soil  beneath 
my  neighbor's  fence,  or  some  branch  or  vine  has  carried  its  fruitage  upon  his 
domain. 

I  believe  there  is  a  creed  extant  -—  if  not  written,  at  least  real  and  well 
defined  —  that  art  may  be  very  properly  divided  into  the  two  grand  divisions 
of  the  useful  and  the  ornamental,  or,  as  its  adherents  might  perhaps  be 
inclined  to  put  it,  the  useful  and  the  useless.  This  creed,  although  doubtless 
quite  in  accordance  with  strict  Puritanic  logic,  I  cannot  accept  as  orthodox  ; 
nay,  more,  I  am  constrained  by  a  spirit  that  is  within  me  to  denounce  it  as 
rank  heresy,  false  from  the  ethical  as  well  as  the  aesthetical  point  of  view. 

Decoration  is  no  more  a  luxury  in  a  civilized  state  of  society  than 
warmth  or  clothing  are  a  luxury  to  any  state  of  society  ;  the  mind,  like  the 
body,  makes  everything  a  necessity  that  it  is  capable  of  permanently  enjoy- 
ing. Ornament  is  one  of  the  mind's  necessities,  which  is  gratified  by  means 
of  the  eye.  Man  is  not  a  unit,  but  a  dual  being,  endowed  with  a  physical  and 
an  i'ntellectual  nature,  both  of  which  must  be  ministered  to,  or  he  dies,  —  or 
at  least  that  part  of  him  which  is  not  nourished.  The  physical  nature  requires 
food,  drink,  clothing,  and  shelter,  —  but  few  wants  and  easily  satisfied  ;  the 
other  and  higher  nature  demands  far  more,  and  one  of  the  first  and  last  of 
its  needs  is  ornament.  The  love  of  ornament  —  not  simply  the  love  of 
beauty,  but  of  ornament  as  well  —  is  instinctive  in  the  human  mind. 

If  we  undertake  to  deny  the  necessity  of  ornament,  we  must  be  able  to 
show  that  mankind  would  be  as  well  without  it  as  with  it.  This  is  impossi- 
ble, as  history  records  no  people  or  race  that  has  not  availed  itself  of  its  aid  ; 
and  generally,  in  proportion  as  nations  have  become  more  enlightened,  in 
that  proportion  ornament  and  ornamental  art  have  flourished.  It  is  a  well- 
known  act  that  there  is  hardly  a  branch  of  all  the  varied  industries  of  the 


Ornament  as  Applied  to  Industrial  Purposes. 


world  into  which  ornament  does  not  enter  as  a  factor ;  hardly  one  in  which 
the  value  of  the  product  is  not  more  or  less  increased  by  its  proper  use. 
Ornament  is  not  only  useful  then,  but  its  usefulness  is  everywhere  admitted  ; 
if  not  in  words,  then  in  deeds,  which  are  stronger  and  weightier  than  words. 
That  which  is  not  only  useful  but  beautiful,  or  believed  to  be  beautiful,  is 
everywhere  preferred  to  that  which  is  merely  useful  ;  thus  ornament  and 
beauty,  as  well  as  utility,  become  essential  elements  in  commercial  prosperity, 
and  this  in  an  increasing  ratio,  as  refinement  replaces  barbarism,  and  culture 
supplants  ignorance.  The  wants  of  the  mind,  no  less  than  the  wants  of  the 
body,  demand  to  be  satisfied.  This  being  the  case,  ornament  becomes  as 
much  an  article  of  commerce  as  corn,  as  cotton,  or  as  any  brain  work. 

But  as  in  everything  else  whose  demand  indirectly  creates  its  own  supply, 
so  also  in  ornament,  there  is  a  demand  for  that  which  is  good,  that  which  is 
indifferent,  and  that  which  is  positively  bad  ;  and  each  of  these  demands  is  met, 
not  only  in  quality,  but  in  quantity  and  in  price. 

As  in  merchandise  and  morals,  so  also  in  ornament,  the  indifferent  and  bad 
is  largely  in  excess  of  the  good.  Forgery  and  adulteration  are  not  confined  to 
the  popularly  accepted  meaning  of  those  terms,  but  have  a  wider  significance  in 
the  domain  of  art ;  for  as  the  basest  villany  pats  on  the  guise  of  the  most 
exalted  virtue,  so  likewise  the  basest  ornament  aims  at  passing  for  something 
more  precious  and  costly  than  it  is.  Sterling  gold  is  imitated  by  cheap 
gilding ;  the  precious  diamond  and  ruby,  emerald,  amethyst,  and  topaz,  by 
quartz  or  still  cheaper  bits  of  tawdry  glass  ;  the  exquisite  mingling  of  light, 
shade,  and  shadow  of  the  sculptured  stone,  or  the  modelled  stucco  ;  the  beau- 
tiful graining  of  mahogany,  rosewood,  and  satinwood,  and  the  delicate  vein- 
ing  of  the  choicest  marbles,  are  imitated  or  cheaply  counterfeited  by  the 
painter's  craft  and  skill. 

Veneering,  graining,  and  marbling  may  indeed  awaken  our  admiration  for 
their  skilful  execution,  but  they  are  worthy  only  of  such  feelings  of  disgust 
and  scorn  as  we  should  mete  out  to  him  who  had  used  his  admirable  skill  in 
penmanship  to  forge  the  name  of  a  trusting  friend,  his  mastery  of  the  engrav- 
er's art  to  counterfeit  the  currency  of  his  country,  or  his  skill  in  language  to 
deceive,  slander,  and  falsify.  We  take  no  pleasure  in  fair  sounding  phrases, 
if  we  doubt  the  truth  of  the  statements  they  express  ;  nay,  the  more  plausible 
they  are,  the  more  contemptible,  because  the  more  calculated  to  mislead  :  so 
in  all  ornamental  art  imitations,  the  more  perfect  the  imitation  the  more  it  is 
likely  to  induce  the  belief  that  it  is  real,  and  therefore  the  more  contemptible 
is  its  use. 

Continued  familiarity  with  crime  deadens  the  sensibility  to  virtue  ;  continued 
familiarity  with  equivocation  and  falsehood  gradually  destroys  all  fine  appre- 
ciation of  the  beauty  of  absolute  truth  ;  and  the  indifference  with  which  we 
view  social,  religious,  and  architectural  shams  and  pretences  from  day  to  day, 
is  doubtless  largely  the  result  of  the  persistent  practice  of  the  ornamental 
deception  of  the  past  two  hundred  years  and  more.  We  play  at  the  childish 
game  of  make  believe,"  and  have  so  long  accustomed  ourselves  to  the  con- 
templation of  "  sham,"  that  "  appearances "  are  about  all  that  we  think 


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worth  living  for ;  and  many  a  miserable  being  has  ignominiously  slunk  out 
of  life  because,  forsooth,  he  or  she  could  no  longer  "keep  up  appearances." 
Woe  to  the  nation,  the  church,  the  man,  or  the  art  that  is  built  upon  a  founda- 
tion of  deception  and  fraud  !  They  will  utterly  perish,  or  be  remembered  only 
in  scorn.  Only  the  structure  founded  upon  truth  will  stand  the  ravages  of 
Time. 

In  order,  then,  to  have  worthy  ornamentation,  we  must  once  and  forever 
cast  away  deceptive  imitation  of  whatever  nature,  and  go  back  to  the  eternal 
foundation  rock  of  Truth.  Every  principle  that  will  not  stand  that  searching 
test  must  be  resolutely,  heroically  (for  it  often  requires  moral  heroism  to  be 
true)  cast  aside. 

The  very  first  principle,  then,  is  Truth.  Owen  Jones  says,  "  That  which  is 
beautiful  is  true  ;  that  which  is  true  must  be  beautiful."  According  to  the 
common  acceptation  of  the  term  "beautiful,"  this  sentiment  may  not  find  many 
converts  ;  but  there  is  in  its  higher  sense,  and  in  its  deeper  meaning,  a  truth 
not  only  beautiful  but  absolutely  sublime. 

Principles  in  art  are  something  like  laws  in  civil  government :  they  may  be 
observed  as  to  the  letter,  and  evaded  as  to  the  spirit  ;  but  such  observance  is 
only  better  in  degree  than  open  violation.  Once  let  this  fundamental  prin- 
ciple of  Truth  be  thoroughly  rooted  and  grounded,  and  the  foundation  at  least 
is  laid  for  an  epoch  of  art  that  shall  rival  that  of  Greece  and  overshadow  that 
of  Rome. 

And  now,  having  laid  the  foundations  of  our  structure  (to  continue  our  meta- 
phor) upon  the  solid  bed-rock  of  Truth,  we  may  rear  the  columns  which  are 
to  support  our  fabric,  namely.  Utility,  Fitness,  Adaptation.  Let  us  adopt 
these  words  as  the  names  of  the  leading  principles  of  Industrial  Art  and  of 
Ornamentation,  for  there  can  be  no  true  excellence  where  they  are  ignored  or 
disregarded. 

Given  this  problem,  then  :  to  construct  and  ornament  any  article  whatever, 
the  mind  must  work  in  something  like  this  order :  — 

Firsts  the  demands  of  Utility :  What  are  the  uses  of  this  object  ? 

Second,  What  material  is  most  fit  for  its  construction,  or  best  adapted  to 
meet  all  the  requirements  of  the  object  ? 

Thi?'d.  What  form  is  best  suited  to  it,  considering  its  uses,  the  material 
selected,  and  the  method  of  manufacture  that  the  nature  of  the  material  imposes 
upon  us  ?  and  how  can  this  general  form  be  made  most  beautiful  with  the  least 
outlay  of  labor,  material,  or  skill,  without  detracting  in  any  degree  from  its 
utility  or  making  it  too  fine  for  its  proposed  use  ? 

Fourth.  How  is  it  to  be  additionally  ornamented  or  enriched,  to  make  it 
more  beautiful,  though  subject  to  all  the  above  conditions  and  restrictions  ? 

Upon  each  of  these  successive  divisions  much  thought  must  be  expended, 
and  the  excellence  of  the  product  will  serve  to  show  what  that  thought  has 
been,  and  whether  it  is  the  offspring  of  ignorance  or  knowledge.  An  aimless 
ambition,  that  seeks  to  startle  you  into  admiration  by  some  trick  or  novelty,  is 
usually  the  characteristic  of  ignorance  ;  a  thoughtful  simplicity,  that  foresees 
and  considers  every  requirement  of  utility  and  of  correct  taste,  and  strives  to 


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153 


meet  it  in  the  most  obvious  way  without  trick  or  sham,  is  equally  the  charac- 
teristic of  knowledge. 

As  every  work  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  a  moral  and  intellectual  no  less  than 
an  aesthetical  portrait  of  its  designer,  to  be  scanned  by  every  intelligent  spec- 
tator, thought  and  reason,  not  fancy  and  memory  alone,  should  determine 
every  decision. 

Utility  is  the  first  law,  therefore  the  use  to  which  the  object  is  to  be  put  is 
first  to  be  thought  of.  The  ornament  is  subordinate  to  the  object  it  enriches, 
and  should  receive  attention  only  after  the  use,  material,  and  general  form  of 
the  object  have  been  considered  and  determined  upon,  and  this  would  seem 
to  be  the  first  thing  to  be  considered.  "  Is  it  pretty?  "  "  Is  it  striking? "  not, 
"  Is  it  convenient  and  suitable? "  is  the  more  common  order.  Yet  there  is  an 
abstract  beauty  in  fitness,  without  which  all  other  beauty  is  unsatisfactory  ; 
it  far  surpasses  all  other  forms  of  beauty,  because  it  acts  not  only  upon  the 
eye,  but  through  the  judgment  also.  Any  article  that  does  not  answer  the 
end  of  its  creation  in  the  best  and  most  consistent  manner,  is  not  beautiful ; 
in  just  that  degree  it  may  be  made  up  of  lines  and  forms,  colors  and  materials, 
that  are  each  and  all  beautiful,  but  if  it  has  not  the  beauty  of  fitness  it  lacks 
the  first  element  of  true  beauty.  The  watch  that  will  not  keep  time,  the  car- 
riage that  lacks  the  requisite  strength  to  support  its  load,  the  eyes  that  cannot 
see,  the  hands  that  cannot  labor,  have  no  beauty  in  them,  because  no  fitness. 

Utility,  then,  must  be  first^  and  a  disregard  of  this  principle  argues  igno- 
rance or  inefficiency  —  generally  both.  It  is  disregarded  by  the  architect  who 
expends  all  his  talent,  and  all  the  available  money  of  his  employer,  in  embel- 
lishing the  exterior  of  a  building  whose  interior  is  deficient  in  actual  con- 
venience ;  whose  rooms  are  poorly  arranged  or  poorly  lighted  ;  whose  floors 
are  shaky,  and  whose  entire  unworthiness  is  in  startling  contrast  to  its 
exterior  pretence.  It  is  disregarded  by  the  tailor,  the  dressmaker,  and  the 
shoemaker  who  sacrifice  comfort  and  utility  to  style,  and  torture  you  into  the 
unchristian  wish  that  they  might  be  compelled  to  wear  the  garments  they  have 
prepared  for  your  use  ;  it  is  set  aside  by  that  fickle  Goddess  of  Fashion  who 
decrees  that  you  must  wear  expensive  stuffs  in  such  a  manner  that  they  must 
soon  become  soiled,  and  yet  cannot  be  cleansed  without  destroying  them  ; 
as  well  as  by  that  high-toned  sentiment,  so  very  commonly  entertained,  that  it 
is  more  honorable  to  be  a  wealthy  dunce  than  an  intelligent  and  useful  worker 
whose  hands  and  brow  betray  the  signs  of  honest  toil. 

What  material  is  best  adapted  to  meet  all  its  requirements  ?  This  again 
demands  thought.  Perhaps  gold  is  most  appropriate,  but  its  use  is  precluded 
by  its  cost.  How  then,  —  shall  it  be  an  inferior  metal,  wearing  the  semblance  of 
gold  ?  No  ;  a  thousand  times  no  !  Silver,  brass,  copper,  tin,  clay,  —  what 
you  will,  if  only  the  material  be  adapted  to  the  use  of  the  object ;  but 
whatever  it  be,  whether  silver  or  clay,  let  no  mean  ambition  induce  you  to  try 
to  deceive  another  as  to  its  true  nature  or  value.  The  appearance  of  success 
gained  by  such  means  is  worse  than  the  most  unequivocal  and  palpable 
failure  ;  nothing  can  justify  it,  nothing  palliate  the  fraud.  Not  only  Truth 
and  Utility,  but  Adaptability  and  Fitness  enter  into  a  consideration  of  this 
20 


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division  of  the  subject.  The  plastic  clay  of  the  potter,  the  ductile  wrought- 
iron  of  the  smith,  and  the  unyielding  granite  from  the  mountain-side,  may 
be  wrought  into  the  same  forms,  with  a  relative  amount  of  toil,  and  com- 
paratively satisfactory  or  unsatisfactory  results.  The  clay  has  the  quality  of 
plasticity,  possessed  to  a  less  degree,  or  not  at  all,  by  the  other  materials, 
and  this  quality  should  determine  its  treatment.  In  the  earthen  vase,  the 
terra-cotta  ornament,  modelled  and  baked,  this  plastic  quality  is  unmistakably 
presented  to  the  understanding  through  the  eye.  So  of  wood  :  it  has  certain 
well-known  characteristics  peculiar  to  it  alone.  It  will  shrink  or  expand  under 
certain  influences  ;  it  will  bear  a  great  tensile  or  crushing  force  in  the  direction 
of  its  fibres,  but  not  across  them  ;  it  is  easily  planed  and  sawed,  cut,  turned,  and 
carved,  but  cannnot  be  beaten  into  shape  like  iron  nor  modelled  like  clay ; 
it  may  be  steamed  and  bent  into  forms,  and,  if  seasoned  in  those  forms,  will 
retain  its  shape  under  certain  conditions.  Its  treatment  should,  therefore, 
be  in  accordance  with  these  qualities,  and,  so  far  as  any  expression  is  called 
for,  should  proclaim  them  unmistakably.  To  employ  wood  in  an  arch,  as 
you  would  employ  stone  ;  to  fashion  it  into  the  form  of  buttresses  or  pinna- 
cles, as  though  its  weight  were  an  element  of  stability,  is  to  falsify  its 
character.  Its  use  should  rather  be  such  as  to  say  in  unmistakable  language, 
"  Lo,  I  am  Wood  ;  my  strength  is  in  my  fibre  and  grain  ;  you  may  rely  upon 
me  so  far  as  my  inherent  nature  gives  me  the  power  to  serve  you,  —  only  let 
me  be  myself  and  serve  you  in  my  own  way,  however  humble.  I  am  satisfied 
to  be  simply  wood,  and  am  ambitious  to  be  nothing  else.  Protect  me  from 
the  weather  and  from  the  effects  of  damp,  if  you  will ;  but  do  not  force  me  to 
appear  like  marble,  for  however  beautiful  it  may  be,  it  is  too  cold  and  hard 
for  me  ;  nor  like  gold,  however  precious,  for  it  has  an  evil  glitter  that  is 
akin  to  envy.  No,  no  ;  I  am  neither  proud  nor  aristocratic  nor  rich  nor 
haughty.  I  am  content  and  happy  to  be  of  use  where  I  can  be  myself,  and 
not  another." 

Form  should  therefore  be  so  subject  to  the  requirements  of  the  general 
principles  before  enumerated,  as  to  harmonize  with  other  objects  with  which  it 
is  to  be  associated.  Neither  time  nor  space  permit  more  than  a  mere  allusion 
to  the  principles  of  design.  A  knowledge  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  Unity, 
Repose,  and  Breadth  is  presupposed,  and  how  the  effects  thus  designated 
are  realized.  There  must  be  unity,  then,  between  the  form  under  considera- 
tion, and  the  various  forms  with  which  it  is  to  be  surrounded ;  and  this  unity 
should  extend,  not  simply  to  unity  of  abstract  form,  but  to  unity  of  historic 
style,  and  to  that  still  more  subtile  unity  of  color,  and  tone,  and  character, 
vaguely  characterized  by  the  general  term  "in  keeping." 

But  while  we  consider  form  from  an  aesthetic  point  of  view,  we  must  not 
lose  sight  of  that  practical  question.  How  can  this  form  be  best  realized  in 
the  material  selected  ?  And  this  consideration  demands  a  knowledge  of  the 
technical  processes  of  manufacture,  so  that  knowledge  of  the  methods  of  the 
workshop  may  go  hand  in  hand  with  a  knowledge  of  art  principles.  An 
architect  must  virtually  be  a  builder  as  well,  and  understand  the  technic  of 
every  craft  employed  in  carrying  out  his  designs  ;  and  a  designer  of  any  work 


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155 


must  know,  not  only  what  is  correct  in  principle,  but  what  is  practicable  and 
best  in  execution  as  well ;  otherwise,  however  ingenious,  however  learned  in 
general  principles  of  art,  he  has  no  business  to  pretend  to  be  a  designer. 
There  is  a  proverb  that  exactly  suits  this  place  :  "  For  if  the  blind  lead  the 
blind,  both  will  fall  into  the  ditch."  If  true,  as  doubtless  it  is,  what  must 
be  the  present  condition  of  the  ditch  ! 

How  to  ornament.  What  is  the  most  obvious  method,  determined  by  the 
material  ?  What  kind  of  lines  and  forms  can  be  employed,  which  will  best 
bring  out  and  enhance  the  beauty  of  the  contour,  be  easily  executed,  and 
suffer  least  from  any  distortion  produced  by  any  accidental  point  of  view  ?  If 
relief  ornaments  are  appropriate,  and  decided  upon,  as  well  as  the  amount  of 
relief  that  will  make  the  decoration  sufficiently  conspicuous,  without  destroying 
the  unity  of  form  of  the  object  decorated,  the  applied  ornament  must  be  sub- 
ordinate to  the  object  enriched,  as  the  form  of  that  object  is  in  turn  subordi- 
nate to  its  use.  This  principle  of  subordination,  growing  out  of  the  broader 
principle  of  unity,  deserves  very  particular  notice.  The  scale  of  subordina- 
tion must  be  very  nicely  adjusted,  from  the  use  of  the  object  down  through 
all  minor  considerations,  to  the  position,  form,  and  color  of  the  most  minute 
detail  of  ornament,  the  governing  principle  being,  that  everything  is  to  be 
elaborate  and  conspicuous  in  just  the  degree  that  its  importance  warrants, 
unless  practical  considerations  operate  to  suspend  this  rule.  For  instance, 
in  a  building,  the  foundations  and  the  piers  are  two  of  the  most  important 
features,  but  the  foundations  are  not  ornamented  because  they  are  concealed 
from  sight.  The  piers  or  columns  are  ornamented  according  to  the  principle 
advocated,  the  capital  receiving  the  most  elaborate  ornamentation,  the  base 
and  shaft  such  as  will  render  them  beautiful  without  destroying  either  the 
sense  of  unity  or  of  fitness.  They  must  have  no  elaborate  carving  to  be  chipped 
away  by  rude  contact  with  passing  bodies  ;  no  deep  cuttings  to  retain  the 
dust  and  grime  which  would  be  sure  to  gather  in  them  ;  no  bright,  pure 
colors  which  will  become  soiled  and  worn  away,  but  bold,  massive,  smoothly 
wrought  surfaces,  or  mouldings,  not  liable  to  receive  injury,  and  tertiary  colors, 
or  broken  hues  and  tones,  suggesting  at  once  strength  and  fitness. 

Having  determined,  then,  the  general  character  of  the  ornamentation, 
whether  rehef  or  surface,  and  the  general  distribution  of  the  decorative  forms, 
we  must  next  consider  how  the  design  is  to  be  carried  out :  whether  it  is  to 
be  cast,  modelled,  carved,  or  embossed  and  chased,  on  the  one  hand,  or  sten- 
cilled, printed,  pencilled,  embroidered,  woven,  or  inlaid,  upon  the  other. 
A  knowledge  of  the  technicalities  of  any  craft  is  necessary,  in  order  to  pro- 
duce a  design  to  be  executed  by  that  craft,  having  the  merit  of  adaptation, 
and  even  of  practicability ;  and  the  character  of  the  product,  as  well  as  its 
merit,  depends  largely  upon  the  timely  consideration  of  the  desired  results, 
and  how  they  are  to  be  attained.  The  finished  product,  then,  is  valuable 
in  degree,  other  things  being  equal,  as  knowledge  or  ignorance  has  been  the 
motive  power.  In  the  consideration  above  referred  to,  the  effect  of  light  and 
shade  should  not  be  overlooked  ;  for  whether  the  ornament  is  surface  or 
relief,  or  a  mingling  of  the  two,  light  and  shade  are  two  of  the  most  important 
factors  to  be  considered  and  calculated. 


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Again,  if  colors  are  to  be  employed  at  all,  we  must  consider  the  purifying 
and  strengthening,  or  the  impoverishing  effects  produced  by  their  juxtaposi- 
tion one  with  another.  A  thorough  knowledge  of  the  harmony  and  properties 
of  colors,  not  only  theoretical  but  also  experimental  and  practical,  must  be 
the  basis  of  harmonious  color  effects. 

Finally,  as  ornament  must  be  applied  to  every  variety  of  surface,  plane, 
cylindrical,  conical,  and  spherical,  and  to  modifications  of  these  and  other 
surfaces,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  the  designer  should  be  able  to  shape 
his  patterns  to  fit  any  required  surface,  in  order  that  the  applied  design  may 
not  be  deficient  in  distribution  and  continuity.  This  involves  a  knowledge  of 
projection  drawing  in  some  of  its  higher  applications. 

In  fact,  no  knowledge,  either  theoretical  or  practical,  whether  belonging  to 
the  special  domain  of  physics,  ethics,  or  esthetics,  whether  scientific  or  meta- 
physical, can  come  amiss  to  the  true  decorative  artist.  It  is  not  the  profession 
that  exalts  the  man,  it  is  the  man  that  exalts  the  profession,  and  his  kingdom 
is  what  he  makes  it.  In  its  possibilities  his  kingdom  is  literally  the  world, 
and  not  only  may  his  skill  awaken  the  admiration  of  him  who  pays  for  it,  but 
that  of  every  beholder,  not  only  in  the  fleeting  present,  but  through  all  coming 
ages,  even  as  we  of  the  present  generation  admire  the  ancient  Egyptians  in 
their  admirable  system  of  ornamentation,  executed  at  a  period  to  which  the 
Dark  Ages  are  but  as  yesterday.  The  art  of  the  designer  appeals  at  once 
to  the  most  ignorant  and  to  the  most  enlightened,  —  it  is  a  key  with  which 
every  heart  can  be  unlocked  ;  and  with  him,  more  truly,  perhaps,  than  any 
other,  it  may  be  said  that  "  knowledge  is  power." 


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157 


XXL 

REPRODUCTIVE  PROCESSES. 

For  the  transmission  of  ideas,  two  modes  only,  beyond  that  of  touch, 
have  been  open  to  mankind,  —  one,  and  the  more  common,  that  of  sound  ; 
and  the  other,  hardly  less  important,  that  of  form  and  color.  It  is  with  this 
latter  mode  of  expression  that  we  are  to  deal. 

Passing  by  the  crude  efforts  of  the  first  few  centuries,  we  find  the 
exchange  of  ideas  taking  a  tangible  form  in  China  in  the  shape  of  printing, 
somewhere  about  900  B.  C.  ;  and  two  thousand  years  later  the  monks  of 
Europe  are  known  to  have  worked  from  roughly-engraved  blocks  what  are 
termed  block-books.  Later,  about  1430,  Gutenberg  and  his  associates  devel- 
oped the  process  of  printing  from  movable  types  ;  and  in  1452  Maso  Finiguerra, 
a  Florentine  jeweller,  accidentally  discovered  that  impressions  might  be  taken 
from  engraved  metal,  on  sulphur.  A  wood-cut  of  St.  Christopher  carrying  the 
infant  Jesus  across  a  stream,  was  made  in  1423  ;  and  one  of  the  Virgin  Mary, 
surrounded  by  female  saints,  bears  the  still  earlier  date  of  141 8. 

From  this  time  the  kindred  arts  of  printing  and  engraving  made  rapid 
strides,  and  it  is  by  no  means  probable  that  the  zenith  of  excellence  has  yet 
been  attained. 

The  art  of  engraving  is  naturally  divisible  into  three  branches,  —  wood, 
metal,  and  stone,  the  respective  technical  names  for  which  are  xylography, 
chalcography,  and  lithography.  Of  these  we  shall  speak  each  under  its 
respective  head. 

Wood-engraving  is  now  uniformly  executed  upon  blocks  of  boxwood,  cut 
across  the  grain  into  pieces  one  inch  thick,  and  planed  smooth  on  the  face. 
Blocks  of  from  six  to  eight  inches  square  can  be  easily  procured ;  but  for 
larger  subjects,  two  or  more  may  be  joined  together. 

Before  executing  a  design  on  wood,  the  face  of  the  block  is  slightly 
covered  with  Chinese  white,  which,  when  dried  and  brushed,  offers  a  fine 
white  surface  to  receive  the  drawing.  This  is  either  made  in  pencil  on  the 
block,  or  is  transferred  from  the  original  drawing  by  tracing.  The  tracing  is 
drawn  with  a  soft  pencil ;  it  is  then  placed  face  down  upon  the  block,  and 
gone  over  with  a  hard  pencil ;  or  it  is  transferred  by  "  throwing  down  "  the 
ink  from  the  moistened  surface  of  another  wood-cut. 

Assuming  that  an  original  design  is  to  be  made,  the  draughtsman  executes 


158 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


it  on  the  prepared  block,  mainly  with  his  pencil ;  but  when  the  character  of 
the  work  will  admit,  portions  are  executed  in  India  ink,  care  being  taken 
to  let  each  wash  dry  before  another  is  applied.  Wherever  this  method  is 
pursued,  the  artist  afterwards  must  rule  the  surface  so  washed  with  a 
series  of  fine  lines  in  lead-pencil,  otherwise  the  graver  may  wander  from  the 
desired  direction,  and  give  a  false  and  uncertain  tint.  The  block  is  then 
passed  to  the  engraver,  who  cuts  away  all  those  parts  of  the  boxwood  which  the 
designer  has  not  covered,  following  every  line  of  the  artist's  drawing,  as  he 
cuts  away  the  whites  and  leaves  the  blacks,  or,  if  it  is  an  India-ink  drawing,  he 
labors  to  reproduce  the  artist's  effect  by  a  judicious  combination  of  wide  or 
narrow  cuts,  his  degree  of  success  being  limited  only  by  his  artistic  capa- 
bilities and  manual  dexterity. 

Another  mode  of  engraving  on  wood  consists  in  printing  the  ground  on 
black,  while  the  drawing- lines,  which  are  cut  away  on  the  block,  are  left 
white  in  the  impression.  This  mode  is  exceedingly  effective  for  outline  and 
mathematical  drawings,  to  which  it  gives  a  striking  relief ;  it  is  also  more 
cheaply  executed. 

Still  another  mode  of  engraving  drawings  on  wood  consists  in  the  use  of  two, 
three,  or  more  blocks  :  the  first  receives  the  outline  of  the  form  to  be  produced 
the  second  the  tints  and  half-tints,  while  the  white  surface  of  the  paper  is 
reserved  for  the  lights.  We  must  observe  that  by  the  aid  of  an  exact  "  reg- 
ister," the  second  printing  is  taken  upon  the  first  impression.  The  first  block 
gives  the  print  the  appearance  of  a  pen  sketch,  and  the  second  that  of  a 
washed  drawing.  We  have  now  considered  the  process  by  which  two  blocks 
are  used  and  three  tones  obtained,  —  the  outline,  the  shadow,  and  the  light. 
This  is  the  simplest  mode  of  working ;  later,  by  means  of  a  greater  number 
of  blocks,  the  tints  are  multiplied  and  numerous  gradations  obtained. 

COPPER-PLATE  ENGRAVING. 

This  process  is  diametrically  opposite  to  that  employed  in  wood  engrav- 
ing. In  the  latter,  all  that  is  to  be  dark  in  the  impression  is  left  in  relief, 
while  in  the  former  the  dark  lines  are  cut  into  the  metal  plate,  and  damp  paper 
is  subjected  to  so  much  pressure  against  the  plate,  that  it  takes  up  the  ink  from 
the  hollows.  Having  made  a  correct  drawing  of  the  composition  or  figure 
to  be  produced,  the  engraver  transfers  his  design  to  the  metal  by  means  of  an 
exact  copy  on  tracing-paper,  which  gives  the  outline,  the  strong  shadows,  and 
the  half-tints.  This  done,  the  artist  begins  to  trace  the  outlines  with  a  point 
to  a  greater  or  less  depth,  according  to  the  amount  of  light  required.  These 
first  strokes  form  the  foundation  of  the  subsequent  work,  and  require  the  most 
correct  and  careful  drawing. 

Copper-plates  for  engraving  must  be  of  very  pure  metal,  and  well  burnished, 
or  hammered  plane  and  polished,  so  as  to  give  hardness  and  uniformity  to 
the  surface. 

Steel  engraving,  as  now  practised,  is  substantially  the  same  as  copper- 
plate engraving. 


Reproductive  Processes. 


159 


ETCHING. 

The  process  of  etching  as  at  present  executed  is  conducted  as  follows  :  — 
The  engraver  first  furnishes  himself  with  a  prepared  plate,  and  after 
heating  its  surface,  coats  it  with  a  black  varnish  or  wax.  He  then  makes  a 
tracing  of  his  drawing  in  gelatine  and  transfers  it  to  the  surface  of  the 
varnish,  after  which  he  follows  the  traced  lines  with  a  needle,  cutting 
through  the  varnish  to  the  surface  of  the  metal.  A  "dam"  or  rim  of  wax  is 
then  turned  up  around  the  edge  of  the  plate,  and  diluted  sulphuric  acid  is 
poured  upon  it.  The  acid  is  occasionally  disturbed  with  a  soft  brush,  that 
it  may  bite  the  exposed  metal  evenly.  At  length  the  acid  and  varnish  are 
washed  off,  and  where  necessary  to  give  the  requisite  sharpness  of  detail  the 
lines  are  retouched  with  the  graver,  and  the  work  is  done  unless  re-biting  be 
necessary. 

By  this  method,  which  is  really  one  of  combination,  it  will  be  seen  that  if 
properly  manipulated  the  soft  tones  of  etched  work,  and  the  sharp  effects  of 
line  engraving,  may  be  joined  with  admirable  effect  on  the  same  plate. 

MEZZOTINT  ENGRAVING. 

In  mezzotint  engraving  the  copper  or  steel  plate  is  scraped  with  an  instru- 
ment called  a  cradle  or  rocking-tool,  which  requires  careful  use.  It  is  a 
semicircular  steel  instrument  roughened  at  one  end,  the  asperities  of  which 
penetrate  the  surface  of  the  metal,  and  produce  numberless  little  dents,  very 
near  each  other.  When  the  surface  is  equally  indented  with  this  rocking-tool, 
a  scraper  is  used  to  soften  the  ridges  more  or  less  as  the  lights  are  to  be 
stronger  or  fainter,  and  to  remove  them  entirely  when  high  lights  are  required. 
This  is  quite  a  different  operation  from  that  employed  in  other  kinds  of 
engraving.  Instead  of  merely  drawing  all  that  is  to  appear  shaded  in  the 
impression,  those  parts  only  are  worked  which  are  to  be  removed  or  softened. 
The  mezzotint  process  gives  imperfect  results  if  not  carefully  managed,  as 
careless  manipulation  of  the  rocking-tool  will  produce  spiritless  and  con- 
fused effects.  The  transition  from  light  to  shade  may  so  easily  be  slurred 
over,  that  the  greatest  precaution  is  needed  in  order  to  obtain  good  and 
pleasing  gradations  of  tone.  Another  thing  which  discourages  from  the  use 
of  mezzotint  is,  that  the  plate  will  not  yield  many  impressions.  After  a  few 
hundred  impressions  have  been  taken  from  the  plate,  its  roughness,  which 
gives  tone  to  the  impression,  becomes  crushed  in  the  press,  and  in  some 
parts  disappears  altogether. 

Mezzotint  was  invented  by  Von  Segen,  improved  by  Prince  Rupert  in  1648, 
and  by  Sir  Christopher  Wren  in  1662. 

Aquatint  engraving  resembles  mezzotint  in  its  results,  and  is  often  con- 
founded with  it ;  but  it  is  in  reality  quite  different.  Instead  of  first  indenting 
the  plates  with  the  rocking-tool,  the  engraver  begins  by  tracing  the  outline  ot 
his  design  on  the  bare  plate,  which  he  then  sprinkles  equally  with  very  fine 
sand  or  resin,  from  a  sieve.  Of  the  two,  sand  is  preferable,  as  it  adheres 
readily  to  the  plate  when  slightly  warmed.    Acid,  slowly  but  plentifully  poured 


i6o 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


upon  the  surface  thus  prepared,  corrodes  all  the  imperceptible  spaces  between 
the  grains  of  resin  or  sand,  and  the  mass  of  similar  and  equidistant  dots  gives 
a  soft  and  harmonious  appearance  to  the  impression.  The  tones  produced 
resemble  that  of  India-ink  or  Sepia  drawings.  The  process  was  introduced 
into  England  by  Paul  Sandby,  and  has  been  practised  in  this  country  with 
success. 

The  chalk  style  was  invented  by  Fran9ois  and  Dumarteau,  although  the 
origin  may  be  traced  back  to  John  Lutma. 

The  imitation  by  engraving  of  the  effect  of  chalk  on  the  grain  of  the  paper, 
allows  of  the  multiplication  of  accurate  and  excellent  fac-simile  copies  of  the 
handiwork  of  the  great  masters,  which  are  very  useful  as  models  and  guides 
to  young  artists. 

To  obtain  these  fac-similes  the  engraver  uses  a  revolving  wheel,  or  roulette, 
which  is  a  small  cylinder  of  steel  turning  on  an  axle  fixed  to  a  handle,  and 
proportioned  to  the  size  of  the  stroke  about  to  be  produced.  The  outer  part 
of  this  little  wheel  is  covered  with  sharp  teeth,  which  bite  into  the  varnished 
copper  in  several  places  at  once.  When  the  aquafortis  has  acted  on  this  first 
work,  the  artist,  with  the  same  instrument,  retouches  on  the  bare  copper  those 
parts  which  he  wishes  to  mark  more  strongly.  A  tool  with  the  end  unequally 
roughened,  which  produces  similar  effects  to  the  roulette,  is  sometimes  used. 
To  give  the  appearance  of  drawing  in  red  or  bistre,  the  greater  number  of 
Francois  and  Dumarteau's  engravings  were  printed  in  red  or  brown. 

Lithography,  or  the  art  of  printing  from  stone,  was  invented  by  Aloys  Sene- 
felder,  at  Munich,  about  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century.  It  consists  first 
in  writing  and  drawing  on  the  stone  with  the  pen,  the  brush,  the  graver,  and 
the  crayon,  or  in  transferring  to  the  stone  writings  and  drawings  made 
with  pen  and  brush  on  transfer  paper,  or  impressions  from  copper,  steel, 
and  pewter  plates  taken  on  a  coated  paper,  and  then  in  printing  from  the 
stone  the  writings  or  drawings  thus  made  upon  it. 

The  principles  of  the  art  are  these  :  An  unctuous  composition  having  been 
made  to  adhere  to  a  calcareo-argillaceous  stone,  those  parts  covered  by  it  — 
i.  e.  the  writing  or  drawing  —  acquire  the  power  of  receiving  printing-ink; 
while  those  parts  not  so  covered  are  prevented  from  so  doing  by  the  interpo- 
sition of  water.  An  absorbent  paper  is  laid  on  the  stone,  and  when  subjected 
to  strong  pressure,  copies  are  obtained. 

The  best  lithographic  stones  are  found  at  Kelheim  and  Solenhofen,  near 
Pappenheim  on  the  Danube,  and  in  Bavaria  ;  but  they  have  been  found,  also, 
in  Silesia,  England,  France,  Canada,  and  the  West  Indies.  These  stones  are 
composed  of  lime,  clay,  and  silicious  earth,  and  are  of  various  hues,  from  a 
pale  yellowish  white  to  a  light  buff,  reddish,  pearl-gray,  light  gray,  blue,  and 
greenish  color.  Those  of  uniform  color  are  the  best.  The  buff  ones  are 
soft,  and  are  adapted  for  lettering  and  transfer;  the  pearl-gray  ones  are  harder, 
and  are  used  for  chalk-drawings  and  engravings. 

The  stones  are  ground  plane  with  sand,  and  when  intended  for  the  pen, 
the  brush,  the  graver,  or  transfer,  they  are  polished  with  pumice  and  water- 
of-Ayr  stone.    An  artificial  grain  is  given  by  ground  glass  or  fine  sand. 


Reproductive  Processes, 


i6i 


When  any  writing  or  drawing  upon  stone  is  to  be  etched,  a  mixture  of  two 
parts  of  nitric  acid  and  from  forty  to  sixty  parts  of  dissolved  gum-arabic  is 
poured  over  the  stone  once  or  several  times,  according  to  the  nature  of  the 
work.  The  etching  changes  the  nature  of  the  stone,  raising  the  work  on  it 
to  a  degree  scarcely  perceptible  to  the  naked  eye.  The  writing  or  drawing, 
which  has  been  effected  by  greasy  tnk  or  chalk,  is  protected  from  the  action 
of  the  acid,  and  the  protected  parts  retain  the  qualification  of  receiving 
printing-ink  which  is  the  natural  property  of  the  stone.  When  the  printer 
wets  the  stone  before  applying  the  inking-roller,  the  water  enters  only  those 
parts  of  the  stone  which  have  been  affected  by  the  acid,  while  the  ink  adheres 
only  to  those  parts,  however  fine,  on  which  the  acid  cannot  operate,  owing 
to  the  composition  of  the  ink  or  chalk  with  which  the  drawing  or  writing  has 
been  done,  and  which,  being  greasy,  rejects  the  water. 

When  the  drawing  or  writing  with  ink  on  a  polished  stone  is  completed, 
the  etching  is  proceeded  with,  and  a  portion  of  the  etching  composition  is 
allowed  to  dry  on  the  stone.  The  printer  then  adjusts  his  stone  on  the 
press,  washes  off  the  dried  gum,  removes  the  whole  drawing  or  writing  with 
turpentine,  wets  the  stone  with  a  sponge  or  damping  canvas,  then  applies 
his  inked  roller  and  rolls  it  several  times  over  the  stone  till  the  lines  appear 
again.  When  sufficient  ink  has  been  applied  to  the  lines,  the  paper  is  laid 
on  the  stone,  drawn  through  the  press,  and  the  impressions  are  taken.  The 
damping  and  inking  of  the  stone  are  renewed  for  every  impression. 

Chalk-drawings  are  done  on  the  ground-stone  with  chemical  chalk,  with 
the  stump  and  scraper,  and  sharp  inked  lines.  If  boldly  and  systematically 
treated,  by  giving  the  effect  first  and  detail  afterward,  richness  and  softness 
of  appearance  will  be  produced  and  a  great  many  impressions  may  be  taken. 

Tinted  drawings,  chromo-lithographs,  and  colored  maps  require  as  many 
stones  — grained  or  polished  —  as  there  are  various  tints  or  colors,  one  stone 
being  printed  after  the  other,  and  so  fitted  and  blended  together  as  even- 
tually to  produce  the  desired  effect. 

From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  clearly  seen  that  the  more  the  talent  of  the 
artist  and  the  skill  of  the  artisan  are  combined  in  one  person,  so  much  the 
more  surely  will  he  succeed  in  any  of  the  forms  of  reproductive  art.  An 
exquisitely  drawn  block  that  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of  an  expert  engraver, 
of  long  experience,  may  not  have  when  engraved  the  effect  intended  ;  for  if 
the  engraver  follows  each  line  with  all  the  fidelity  of  an  unthinking  machine, 
the  result  will  be  hard,  spiritless,  and  unmeaning.  The  same  block  in  the 
hands  of  a  less  expert  engraver,  who  has  some  artistic  taste  and  training, 
may  be  cut  in  such  a  manner  as  to  preserve  the  draughtsman's  sentiment 
and  produce  a  more  pleasing  effect,  though  in  a  strictly  mechanical  sense  it 
may  be  a  mediocre  engraving. 

Happily,  art  education  is  now  coming  within  the  reach  of  all ;  and  as  soon 
as  its  advantages  are  more  generally  appreciated  and  accepted,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  it  will  do  much  to  elevate  and  refine  mankind. 


21 


7 he  Antefix  Papers. 


XXII. 

THE  APPLICATION  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY  TO 
ENGRAVING. 

Although  our  ancestors  of  the  eighteenth  century  quote,  as  a  matter 
known  in  their  childhood  and  recognized  as  an  undeniable  fact,  that  the  sun 
"  made  linen  white  and  maidens  dun,"  another  matter,  not  less  important, 
seems  to  have  escaped  their  observation  until  towards  the  latter  part  of  that 
century,  /.  e.  the  peculiar  effect  of  light  on  compounds  containing  silver. 

The  first  philosophical  examination  of  this  effect  was  made  by  Scheele  in 
1777)  "while  trying  the  effect  of  the  different  rays  in  the  solar  spectrum  on 
nitrate  of  silver,  then  luna  cornea.  By  arranging  a  glass  prism  in  a  window^ 
and  throwing  the  refracted  rays  on  a  paper  covered  with  luna  cornea,  he  not 
only  found  that  the  substance  was  changed  in  color,  but  that  the  different 
rays  differed  in  degree  of  action,  the  violet  rays  being  the  most  active. 

In  1802  Wedge  wood  published  an  account  of  experiments  leading  directly 
to  the  successful  results  since  attained.  He  saturated  white  paper  or  leather 
with  nitrate  of  silver,  and  exposed  it  in  the  camera,  or  under  leaves  of  trees 
and  wings  of  insects.  The  result  was  that  the  objects  kept  the  part  covered 
by  them  white,  while  the  parts  exposed  to  the  light  became  darkened.  Thus 
a  most  successful  picture  was  formed  ;  but  alas  for  the  instabihty  of  chemical 
things  !  no  means  were  found  to  preserve  the  white,  and  when  once  the  opaque 
body  was  removed,  all  became  black  together.  Sir  John  Herschel  and 
Dr.  Fox  Talbot  were  as  eager  as  Wedgewood  to  find  some  bath  that  would 
make  the  ghost  a  tangible  presence,  and  Sir  John  Herschel  found  it  in  hypo- 
sulphate  of  soda. 

In  1 8 14,  M.  Niepce,  of  France,  afterwards  the  partner  of  the  well-known 
Daguerre,  produced  the  first  permanent  pictures  by  solar  radiation,  perma- 
nent in  a  very  temporary  sense,  as  experience  has  taught  us.  He  coated 
plated  silver  or  glass  with  a  varnish  of  asphaltum  dissolved  in  oil  of  lavender, 
drying  without  light  or  moisture  ;  he  then  exposed  it  in  the  camera  from 
four  to  six  hours.  At  first  a  faint  image  alone  was  visible.  This  was  devel- 
oped by  immersion  in  oil  of  lavender  and  white  petroleum,  and  subsequently 
washed  and  dried. 

Daguerre  went  back  to  the  old  process  of  using  a  silver  compound,  think- 


Application  of  Photography  to  Engraving.  163 


ing  Niepce's  process  too  slow.  To  think  now  of  photographs  taken  only 
after  a  sitting  of  six  hours,  is  to  bless  Daguerre  for  his  dissatisfaction  !  But 
to  M.  Niepce  belongs  honor  for  another  reason,  which  places  him  on  a 
plane  fully  as  high  as  that  on  which  M.  Daguerre  stands,  although  his  name 
has  failed  to  attach  itself  to  any  special  process.  This  is  the  honor  of  origi- 
nating the  idea  of  a  printing-plate,  which,  by  photographic  process,  would 
give  an  indefinite  number  of  truly  permanent  impressions.  He  discovered, 
during  his  many  experiments  previous  to  1827,  that  thin  plates  of  bitumen 
were  curiously  affected  by  light ;  so  he  coated  metal  plates  with  a  thin  layer 
of  this  substance,  and  exposed  them  in  a  camera  for  several  hours  ;  the 
plate  was  then  submitted  to  the  action  of  oil  of  spike,  which  dissolved  the 
parts  not  acted  on  by  light,  but  acted  little  on  the  rest.  In  this  case  the 
part  dissolved  represented  the  dark  parts  of  the  picture,  and  the  remaining 
the  light  parts.  Acid  was  then  applied,  which  acted  on  the  uncovered  metal, 
but  not  on  the  bitumen,  as  in  etching.  The  objection  to  this  plan,  if  success- 
ful in  manipulation,  must  have  been  that  it  would  produce  pictures  with  harsh 
contrasts,  the  dark  parts  being  of  too  uniform  depth,  and  middle  tints  hardly 
expressed,  save  by  subsequent  finishing  by  hand,  would  offset  a  process  in- 
volving more  labor  than  the  gain  by  photography. 

In  1837  Mr.  Fineau  used  certain  acids  in  a  daguerreotype  picture  which 
attacked  the  dark  parts  of  the  picture  in  greater  or  less  degree,  according  to 
the  intensity  of  the  shade.  He  did  not  obtain  sufficient  erosion  to  print  from 
the  plate,  but  he  ingeniously  deepened  the  engraved  parts  by  oiling  the  whole 
plate,  wiping  off  the  surface  oil  and  allov/ing  the  engraved  parts  to  remain 
filled  with  it,  and  then  electroplating  with  gold  until  the  required  depth  was 
obtained.  The  plate  was  then  boiled  in  an  alkaline  solution  to  remove  the 
oil,  and  being  too  soft  for  printing  purposes,  was  afterwards  electrotyped. 

In  the  year  1839  Ponton  found  that  bichromate  of  potash  contains  chromic 
acid,  and  that  chromic  acid,  when  combined  with  organic  matter,  is  reduced 
from  a  high  oxide  of  the  metal  chromium  to  a  low,  and  that  the  oxygen  with 
which  it  is  combined  becomes  united  with  the  organic  substance.  He  experi- 
mented on  paper  successfully.  In  1840  Becquerel  claimed  that  the  size  on 
the  paper  caused  the  effect,  and  Dr.  Talbot  first  decided  gelatine  to  be  a 
superior  substance  for  the  reduction  ;  he  also  found  that  the  gelatine,  by  the 
pi-ocess,  became  tough  and  insoluble.  Subsequent  experiments  in  photo- 
graphic engraving  rest  on  this  principle. 

Knight  says,  that  Joseph  Dixon,  of  Jersey  City,  was  the  first  to  use  organic 
matter  and  bichromate  of  potash  for  lithography.  Poitevin  was  the  first  to 
discover  that  the  organic  matter,  under  the  influence  of  the  bichromate  and 
acted  on  by  light,  would  receive  ink  from  a  greasy  roller.  In  1856  he 
patented  a  process  which  consisted  in  coating  a  stone  with  a  layer  of  gela- 
tine and  bichromate,  and  exposing  it  to  a  luminous  object.  The  parts  acted 
on  by  light  become  insoluble  and  refuse  water,  while  the  parts  not  acted  on 
by  light  absorb  it.  In  turn  the  parts  refusing  water  receive  the  greasy  ink, 
and  the  moist  parts  refuse  it.  One  objection  to  this  process  lay  in  the  fact 
that  if  the  impression  were  taken  from  a  positive  picture,  the  stone  would 


164 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


exhibit  a  negative,  and  if  printed  from  a  negative,  the  Hght  and  shade  would 
be  right,  but  the  right  side  would  exchange  places  with  the  left,  reversing  the 
position  of  the  picture.  Also,  as  the  gelatine  absorbed  the  water  before  the 
application  of  the  ink,  it  became  swollen,  raising  the  surface  above  the  non- 
absorbing  parts,  and  thus  the  dark  portions  which  needed  the  strongest  action 
of  the  press  received  the  least,  while  the  moist  parts  were  easily  crushed  and 
destroyed.    On  this  account  this  process  has  been  little  used. 

Dr.  Talbot,  in  1852,  and  again  in  1858,  patented  a  process  called  photo- 
glyphic  engraving.  This  consisted  in  dipping  a  steel  plate  into  a  solution  of 
sulphuric  and  acetic  acids,  and  then  coating  it  with  a  solution  of  gelatine  and 
bichromate  of  potash,  to  receive  the  image.  The  effect  was  the  same  as  that 
resulting  from  Poitevin's  experiment ;  but  instead  of  printing  from  the  gela- 
tine, he  found  that  a  weak  solution  of  bichloride  of  platina  would  eat  through 
the  gelatine  where  the  light  had  not  acted,  biting  the  steel  plate.  He  there- 
fore removed  the  gelatine  when  the  etching  was  sufficiently  deep,  and  his 
plate  was  ready  for  use. 

Mr.  W.  E.  Newton  substituted  gum  and  sugar  for  the  gelatine,  and  used 
a  lithographic  stone.  He  exposes  the  coated  stone  under  a  negative  which 
affects  it  in  much  the  same  way  as  the  gelatine.  He  then  removes  the  solu- 
ble portion  by  washing  with  a  solution  of  soap,  which  also  has  the  effect  of 
giving  a  good  surface  to  the  remainder  for  receiving  the  ink.  while  in  Talbot's 
process  the  etched  portion  of  the  plate  underneath  the  soluble  gelatine 
receives  the  ink,  and  forms  the  dark  part  of  the  final  picture.  In  Newton's 
process  the  insoluble  parts  receive  the  ink  and  furnish  the  shades ;  hence 
in  the  first  case  the  impression  comes  from  the  image,  in  the  second  from  the 
negative.  Attempts  have  been  made  to  apply  photography  to  wood-engrav- 
ing, which,  although  ingenious,  have  given  no  practical  results,  either  imme- 
diate or  probable  ;  so  I  pass  them  by. 

M.  Pretsch,  of  Vienna,  has  invented  a  method  called  galvanography,  de- 
pendent on  the  same  principles  estabhshed  by  Ponton,  Poitevin,  and  Talbot. 
He  coats  a  glass  in  the  same  way,  with  the  same  results,  and  obtains  his 
picture  in  relief,  the  parts  which  absorb  water  rising  above  the  insoluble  dark 
parts.  From  the  image  thus  formed  a  gutta-percha  mould  is  made,  and  from 
this  mould  an  electrotype  copper-plate  is  formed. 

In  the  Woodbury  process,  the  same  gelatine  picture  in  relief  is  placed  under 
a  sheet  of  soft  metal  and  subjected  to  great  pressure,  the  metal  giving  the 
form  in  reversed  relief  and  depression.  This  mould  is  then  filled  with  colored 
gelatine,  the  paper  on  which  the  picture  is  desired  is  placed  over  it,  and  a 
level  pressure  brought  to  bear  on  the  paper,  which  removes  all  superfluous 
gelatine.  The  depressed  parts,  which  represent  the  dark  parts  of  the  picture, 
retain  the  most  gelatine  and  color ;  and  when  the  paper  lifts  the  gelatine 
from  the  mould,  a  picture  in  almost  imperceptible  relief  is  left  on  it,  but  with 
decided  differences  of  shade.  This  method  was  used  in  illustrating  the 
*'  Medical  and  Surgical  History  of  the  War "  "  with  excellent  results." 
Hitherto  the  process  has  been  applied  only  to  small  pictures. 

With  nearly  similar  results,  but  by  quite  a  different  process,  we  obtain 


Application  of  Photography  to  Engraving.  165 


carbon-prints.  In  the  Woodbury  process  it  will  be  seen  that  the  first-formed 
picture  must  be  negative,  or,  rather,  taken  from  a  positive,  since  the  raised 
parts  in  that  must  correspond  to  the  depressions  in  the  mould,  or  the  dark 
parts  in  the  final  picture ;  but  in  the  carbons  the  impression  is  taken  from 
the  negative,  the  picture  itself  being  positive  »in  regard  to  light  and  shade, 
but  reversed  in  position.  The  impression  is  taken  on  paper  coated  with 
bichromate  of  potash  and  gelatine,  with  which  has  been  mixed  some  pigment, 
as  carbon.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  light,  acting  through  the  light  parts  of 
the  negative,  affects  the  sensitive  surface  beneath,  —  probably  through  its 
entire  thickness,  —  but  in  the  most  opaque  parts  the  character  is  not 
changed,  and  therefore  it  remains  perfectly  soluble,  while  in  the  intermediate 
parts  it  is  affected  to  a  depth  precisely  in  proportion  to  the  intensity  of  the 
shade.  But  we  have  no  picture,  —  only  a  sheet  of  blackened  gelatine,  and 
to  bring  it  out  we  must  remove  the  under  surface  of  unaffected  gelatine 
with  the  accompanying  color.  At  first  this  was  done  by  washing  the  pic- 
ture in  hot  water ;  but  the  insoluble  part,  being  nearest  the  paper,  on  being 
dissolved,  left  the  upper  surface,  detached  from  the  paper,  floating  on  the 
water.  To  prevent  this,  the  paper,  before  the  application  of  hot  water,  is 
firmly  glued,  face  downward,  on  another  paper,  which  fixes  the  insoluble  parts 
on  the  second  paper ;  then  hot  water  is  applied,  which  detaches  the  first 
paper,  and  thus  brings  the  soluble  parts  to  the  surface,  where  they  also  are 
washed  away.  Mr.  Edwards  says,  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  that  anything 
can  be  finer  than  Braun's  reproductions  of  the  paintings  in  the  Sistine 
Chapel ;  and  each  one  of  these  consists  of  a  film  of  bichromated  gelatine, 
in  which  any  convenient  coloring  matter  is  imprisoned." 

Knight  considers  Osborne's  process  of  photo-lithography  the  first  thor- 
oughly successful  one.  This  is  in  use,  with  slight  modifications,  for  gov- 
ernment work  both  in  England  and  America.  It  was  first  patented  and  used 
in  Australia,  in  1859,  for  the  preparation  of  maps  for  the  Crown  Land  Surveys. 
Osborne  combines  the  bichromated  gelatine  with  albumen  ;  he  obtains  the 
usual  results  by  exposure  to  the  negative,  but  instead  of  applying  water  at 
once  to  remove  the  soluble  parts,  he  covers  the  whole  surface  with  a  litho- 
graphic transfer-ink,  then  floats  the  sheet,  ink  side  up,  on  hot  water  ;  by  this 
process  the  albumen  thickens  and  forms  a  supporting  film,  which  assists  the 
manipulation  of  the  sheet  during  transfer.  The  gelatine  as  before  swells  where 
not  affected  by  hght,  and  a  picture  in  relief  is  obtained.  Light  and  shade  are 
gained  by  removing  the  superfluous  ink,  which  is  repelled  by  the  water-absorb- 
ing parts.  The  precise  method  pursued  by  Osborne  at  this  point  I  have  not 
been  able  to  learn,  but  the  Southampton  method,  nearly  if  not  quite  identical 
with  his,  and  patented  by  M.  Asser  of  Amsterdam  at  nearly  the  same  time, 
is  as  follows  :  The  print  is  removed  from  the  water  to  a  glass  plate,  hot 
water  is  poured  gently  over  it,  and  the  soluble  gelatine  is  removed  by  careful 
rubbing  with  a  soft  sponge,  soaking  and  rubbing  until  every  particle  has  dis- 
appeared. The  print  is  well  washed  in  cold  water  and  dried  ;  it  is  laid  face 
downwards,  when  thoroughly  dry,  on  a  previously  prepared  warm  lithographic 
stone,  slightly  damped  on  the  upper  surface  ;  papers  are  laid  upon  it,  and  the 


The  Antefix  Papefs, 


whole  is  passed  several  times  through  a  press,  each  time  with  added  force, 
until  the  impression  is  hrmly  fixed  to  the  stone  ;  all  superfluous  matter  is  then 
removed,  the  stone  is  slightly  etched  (to  prevent  the  spreading  of  lines)  by 
weak  nitric  acid,  and  the  stone  is  ready  for  the  press.  It  seems  plain  that 
this  method  may  give  firm  lines,  but  can  give  no  fine  gradation  of  tint,  which 
is  necessary  to  a  good  picture ;  hence  this  process  is  specially  adapted  to  the 
very  work  to  which  it  is  now  extensively  applied,  —  plans  and  maps. 

We  find,  then,  that  the  chief  obstacles  in  the  way  of  all  the  processes  save 
Woodbury's  and  the  carbon  printing,  is,  that  on  the  removal  of  the  soluble 
gelatine,  whether  the  remainder  is  used  to  print  from  immediately  or  is  used 
for  the  formation  of  a  mould,  there  is  always  the  same  harshness  of  contrast. 
When  the  swollen  gelatine  is  allowed  to  remain,  the  depressions  which  receive 
the  ink,  and  specially  require  the  action  of  the  press,  fail  to  receive  it,  while  the 
swollen  parts,  by  constant  absorption  of  moisture  and  extra  wear  in  the  press, 
become  crushed  and  useless  after  a  few  impressions. 

Carbon  printing  gives  us  the  desired  results  in  these  respects,  but  by  its 
means  we  obtain  pictures  slowly,  one  at  a  time,  the  impression  being  taken 
each  time,  and  the  whole  process  of  fixing,  glueing,  and  washing  gone  over 
with  each  picture.  The  Woodbury  type  necessarily  repeats  the  whole  pro- 
cess subsequent  to  the  formation  of  the  mould  with  each  picture,  and  so 
neither  of  these  processes  can  be  used  for  the  very  rapid  multiplication  of 
pictures,  however  good  they  may  be. 

Attempts  at  improvement  were  made  by  using  a  very  thin  layer  of  gelatine, 
but  the  gelatine  was  easily  crushed  and  the  pictures  weak. 

Albert  of  Munich  mounted  the  bichromated  gelatine  on  a  glass  plate,  and 
subjected  it  throughout  to  the  action  of  light,  so  that  the  whole  sheet  became 
insoluble  ;  then  over  this  he  placed  a  very  thin  layer  to  receive  the  impres- 
sion. Thus  he  hoped  to  make  a  strong  film,  without  the  undesirable  relief. 
The  glass  was  liable  to  fracture ;  but  Mr.  Edwards  says,  that  although  the 
pictures  were  wanting  in  strength  and  robustness,  he  was  convinced,  on  see- 
ing them,  that  in  that  direction  lay  the  future  of  permanent  photographic 
printing.  Thereupon  he  discovers  a  means  of  doing  without  the  glass,  and 
also  of  obviating  the  difficulty  about  the  swelling  of  the  gelatine  ;  he  finds 
that  the  gelatine  is  affected  by  chrome  alum,  and  that  it  is  converted  into  an 
insoluble  substance,  by  the  action  of  light ;  he  also  finds  that  the  alum  in  no 
way  interferes  with  the  action  of  light  on  the  bichromated  gelatine,  and  yet 
that  the  parts  unacted  on  by  light  retain  the  power  of  taking  sufficient  water  to 
repel  grease,  —  at  the  same  time  producing  no  relief  that  interferes  with  perfect 
printing.  The  gelatine  can  be  sufficiently  thick  and  tough  to  allow  from  i,ooo 
to  1,500  impressions  to  be  made  from  one  plate  without  loss  of  quality.  Common 
cooking  gelatine  is  dissolved  in  hot  water,  bichromate  of  potash  and  chrome 
alum  added,  and  the  solution  poured  on  a  plate  of  glass  or  slate  which  has 
been  previously  rubbed  with  wax  dissolved  in  ether,  to  prevent  the  too  close 
adhesion  of  the  mixture.  The  plate  must  be  kept,  as  in  all  previous  cases, 
from  the  actinic  rays  of  light  until  exposed  under  the  negative.  Deep  orange 
glass  is  recommended  in  the  drying-room.    When  dry,  the  sheet  is  detached 


Application  of  Photography  to  Engraving.  167 


from  the  plate  and  placed  in  contact  with  a  reversed  negative,  which  contact 
can  be  established  more  perfectly  and  with  less  troubfe  than  when  the  film  is 
mounted.  When  the  impression  is  sufficiently  strong,  the  film  is  placed 
under  water,  with  a  metal  plate  suitable  to  print  from  (nickelled  steel,  zinc, 
and  pewter  are  named),  and  when  the  water  has  expelled  the  air  between 
them,  the  "squeegee"  removes  the  water,  and  the  film  is  firmly  held  to  the 
plate  by  atmospheric  pressure.  This  squeegee  is  simply  a  strip  of  rubber  in 
a  wooden  frame,  which,  by  a  slight,  quick  pressure  across  the  film,  removes 
every  particle  of  water  and  air  that  may  prevent  a  firm  union  to  the  plate. 
The  plate  is  then  soaked  in  water  to  remove  the  bichromate,  so  that  light 
can  no  further  affect  the  film,  and  is  ready  for  the  press.  The  film  can  at 
any  time  be  removed  from  the  plate,  and,  when  required,  replaced  with 
little  trouble  either  of  storage  or  labor.  In  inking  another  improvement 
has  been  made,  which  is  claimed  "to  give  a  value  to  heliotype  printing 
possessed  by  no  other  method  of  printing  in  existence."  "  If,"  says  Mr. 
Edwards,  "  in  inking  one  of  these  plates,  we  use  what  is  called  a  very  stiff 
ink,  we  shall  find  that  it  will  adhere  only  to  the  deepest  shadows  :  if  we  use 
a  very  thin  ink,  we  shall  succeed  in  printing  the  delicate  half  tones,  but  shall 
no  longer  get  depth  in  the  shadows.  My  method  is  to  get  two  or  more  inks 
of  different  intensities  in  succession,  —  to  begin  with  a  stiff  ink  and  continue 
with  a  thinner.  To  produce  different  effects,  the  colors  of  these  may  be 
varied  ;  as,  for  instance,  black  in  the  stiff  ink,  and  above  this  a  thinner  pur- 
ple or  brown,  which  will  give  us  the  half  tones."  It  should  be  stated  that 
the  surface  of  the  plate  must  be  damped  previous  to  each  inking,  and  a  good 
effect  is  obtained  by  damping  with  water  slightly  tinted.  After  inking  with 
a  roller  of  gelatine  or  rubber,  a  matting  is  placed  around  the  part  which  is  to 
be  printed,  the  paper  on  which  the  print  is  to  be  left  is  placed  above  it,  and  a 
vertical  pressure  is  brought  to  bear  on  the  plate.  On  removing  the  paper, 
the  picture  has  a  clear  margin,  owing  to  the  matting,  and  all  the  trouble  of 
subsequent  mounting  is  dispensed  with.  This  is  a  great  advantage  as  regards 
cheapness,  and  also  because  it  gives  an  even  surface  for  book  illustration,  to 
which  the  process  seems  specially  adapted.  As  with  all  photographic  im- 
pressions, color  cannot  be  truly  expressed,  neither  can  engravings  discolored 
by  age  be  effectively  reproduced.  Pictures  dependent  on  light  and  shade 
and  form  can  be  well  represented.  Mr.  Edwards  thinks  it  probable  that 
there  will  be  a  "  distinct  class  of  artists  who  will  translate  color  into  light 
and  shade  "  for  this  very  purpose. 


i68 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


XXIII. 

GLASS  — CAST,  CUT,  AND  ENGRAVED. 

When  glass  was  first  made  or  invented  is  unknown,  although  Pliny  tells  us 
of  its  accidental  discovery  by  some  travellers  in  Syria.  Having  made  a  fire 
on  the  shores  of  the  river  Belus,  its  heat  incorporated  the  salts  contained  in 
the  herb  kali  with  some  of  the  sand  of  the  shore,  and  formed  glass,  which 
was  then  observed  for  the  first  time.  Other  authorities,  some  of  them  noted 
chemists,  say  that  the  possible  quantity  of  heat  so  generated  could  not  have 
"jproduced  such  a  result,  for  in  our  days  it  can  only  be  brought  about  by  fur- 
naces constructed  for  the  purpose.  It  is  difficult  to  reahze  how  sand  could 
have  become  so  fusible,  no  matter  how  soft  the  flux  or  alkali  might  have  been 
which  happened  to  incorporate  itself  with  it.  Other  materials,  however, 
might  have  produced  such  an  effect  under  similar  circumstances. 

Borax  can  be  melted  in  a  crucible  in  a  common  stove,  with  a  hot  fire, 
and  when  poured  out  and  left  to  cool  will  form  a  clear  and  transparent  glass^ 
but  not  a  durable  one  ;  lead,  in  the  state  of  an  oxide,  fused  with  it,  will  also  form 
a  yellow  glass.  The  words  "  transparent  glass  "  have  been  used,  but  glass  ware 
is  not  always  so  :  opal  glass,  for  instance,  is  so  much  like  porcelain  that  it 
is  difficult  to  tell  the  difference,  and  it  is  in  consequence  often  called  porcelain 
glass  ;  jet  black  glass  is  often  and  easily  made,  and  we  all  kno-w  that  bits  of 
glass  of  different  colors  have  been  used  in  mosaics  from  very  early  times. 

Scott  also  tells  us  that  glass-making  dates  from  far  beyond  the  historic  period, 
and  that  curious  things  can  now  be  seen  in  museums  which  were  in  request  by 
the  Egyptians,  proving  that  the  vitrifaction  of  colored  substances  is  as  old  as 
the  pyramids  ;  other  curious  objects,  found  in  the  Catacombs-,  are  also  pre- 
served in  the  Vatican  at  Rome.  The  celebrated  Portland  vase  is  a  magnifi;- 
cent  specimen  of  ancient  glass.  The  Greeks  are  supposed  to  have  engraved 
on  glass,  and  to  have  known  the  use  of  the  wheel  used  for  cutting  it,  and  many 
specimens  of  ancient  glass  with  raised  figures  are  preserved,  which  were 
probably  moulded. 

Glass  was  made  at  Venice  as  early  as  the  twelfth  century. 

From  early  times  to  the  sixteenth  century,  glass-moulding  was  unknown  j 
at  this  time,  however.  Carillon  reinvented  the  iron  mould,  and  bottles  of  glass 
thus  shaped  were  made  in  sufficient  quantities  to  replace  the  leather  ones 
previously  imported  from  England. 


Glass  —  Cast,  Cut,  and  Engraved. 


169 


Before  glass  can  be  moulded,  it  must  be  in  a  molten  state  :  that  is,  its 
ingredients  must  be  in  a  thoroughly  fused  condition,  and  in  a  hquid  form  of 
sufficient  consistency  to  be  conveniently  worked.  Red  lead  and  fine  sand  are 
important  ingredients  in  making  superior  glass  ;  the  lead  must  be  pure,  and 
as  this  is  somewhat  difficult  to  obtain,  large  manufacturers  find  it  cheaper  to 
oxidize  their  own  lead  ;  this  is  a  very  unhealthy  part  of  their  business,  and 
workmen  engaged  in  it  live  but  a  few  years  after  making  it  their  vocation. 

The  sand  used  by  some  of  our  manufacturers  comes  from  Berkshire 
County,  in  the  Western  part  of  this  State.  Lime  and  oyster-shells  are  used 
in  making  cheap  glass,  but  no  lead,  and  it  is  called  lime  or  oyster-shell  glass, 
as  the  case  may  be.  Glass  without  any  lead  in  it  cannot  very  well  be  used 
for  cutting,  as  it  is  dense  and  smooth,  and  being  naturally  soft,  grinds 
away  easily  at  the  touch  of  the  cutting-wheel ;  it  is,  however,  capable  of  a 
very  fine  polish.  The  materials  for  making  glass  are  put  into  clay  vessels 
with  dome-shaped  tops,  larger  at  the  top  than  at  the  bottom,  circular  in  sec- 
tion, and  with  height  greater  than  their  diameter  ;  an  aperture  near  the  top, 
which  projects  like  an  attic-window  from  the  roof  of  a  house,  is  used  both 
for  putting  in  raw  material  and  taking  out  the  molten  glass.  These  pots 
are  from  one  to  three  feet  in  height  and  two  to  three  inches  in  thickness,  the 
bottoms  being  four  inches  thick.  These  pots  are  placed  in  a  furnace  called  a 
cone,  circular  in  form  and  running  upward  like  a  very  wide  chimney.  The 
fire  in  this  furnace  is  kept  at  a  white  heat ;  the  pots  are  placed  around  the 
inside,  the  apertures  opening  outward.  When  the  material  is  thoroughly 
fused  and  ready  for  use,  a  workman,  called  the  gatherer,  stands  before  the 
hole,  and  gathers  on  the  end  of  an  iron  blow-pipe  a  quantity  of  the  molten 
glass  ;  this  he  passes  to  another  workman,  who,  by  swinging  or  by  other 
movement,  works  it  into  an  ovoid  or  spherical  shape,  according  to  the  shape 
of  the  article  to  be  made  ;  it  is  then  put  into  a  hinged  iron  mould,  with  long 
handles  attached.  After  the  glass,  which  is  still  attached  to  the  blowing-iron, 
is  put  into  the  mould,  it  is  closed,  the  blower  blows  through  the  hollow  iron 
tube,  until  the  glass  is  blown  outward  and  into  the  crevices  of  the  mould. 
It  of  course  instantly  cools  and  becomes  solid.  It  is  then  taken  from  the 
mould,  freed  from  the  blowing-iron,  and  carried  into  the  annealing  furnace. 
By  sinking  it  into  the  mould,  elaborate  designs  can  be  made  to  appear  in 
relief  on  the  moulded  glass.  Glassware  made  in  this  way  is  often  over- 
loaded with  ornament,  as  it  is  as  cheap  to  cover  the  surface  entirely  as  to 
cover  it  partially.  This  kind  of  work  is  sometimes  mistaken  by  many  for 
genuine  cut-glass.  The  difference  can,  however,  be  easily  discovered  by  the 
round  edges  of  the  moulded  ornament,  and  the  sharp  and  decided  ones  of  the 
cut ;  and  again,  the  moulded  glassware  shows  the  seams  of  the  mould,  as  a 
mould  which  opens  and  shuts  on  hinges,  however  tight  the  joints  may  be 
made,  will  show  seams  on  any  moulded  article.  To  obviate  this,  wooden 
moulds  have  been  introduced,  and  are  used  where  they  can  be  to  advantage, 
in  the  same  way  as  iron  ones.  To  make  it  practicable  to  use  the  wooden 
mould,  it  is  kept  immersed  in  water,  and  dipped  into  it  every  time  an  article 
is  made.  The  glass  is  put  into  this  mould  and  blown  in  the  same  way  as  in 
22 


170 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


the  iron  one,  with  this  difference :  the  blower  turns  the  tube  round  as  he 
blows  through  it,  the  seams  running  vertically  and  the  movement  of  the  arti- 
cle being  horizontal.  Every  trace  of  a  seam  is  thus  destroyed.  Articles 
made  in  this  way  are  as  good  as  those  blown  without  a  mould.  All  cylin- 
drical, conical,  ovoid,  or  spherical  shapes,  or  these  mixed,  can  be  so  made, 
such  as  bottles,  globe-shades  for  gas,  cone-shades,  lamp-chimneys,  and  a 
variety  of  other  things. 

The  art  of  cutting  glass  is  believed  to  have  been  invented  by  Caspar  Lehman, 
who  took  out  a  patent  in  1 609.  He  was  in  the  service  of  the  Emperor  Rodolph, 
and  was  lapidary  and  glass-cutter  to  the  Court.  Before  this  time  figures 
had  been  admirably  engraved  upon  glass  by  the  use  of  diamonds.  Even 
at  a  later  period,  in  1760,  Wedgewood  imitated  the  Portland  vase,  already 
alluded  to,  by  the  same  method.  Another  method  also  seems  to  have 
been  known  of  cutting  glass  by  means  of  emery  powder  and  sharp-pointed 
tools.  Glass-cutting  by  our  present  method  was  not  of  much  importance 
until  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century.  It  is  done  by  vertical  wheels  of 
different  substances,  turned  by  hand,  steam,  or  water  power.  Four  kinds  of 
wheels  are  successively  used.  The  first  wheel  is  iron,  and  cuts  or  grinds 
the  design  very  roughly  upon  the  glass.  Sand  and  water  drop  upon  this 
wheel  from  ^  a  trough  above.  This  trough  is  often  in  the  shape  of  an 
inverted  pyramid,  the  water  and  sand  dropping  out  of  it  at  its  apex. 
The  best  cutter  or  workman  is  employed  in  this  stage,  as  the  draw- 
ing or  shaping  of  the  design  has  to  be  done  ;  the  work  done  afterwards  is 
merely  smoothing,  and  little  or  no  artistic  skill  is  required.  The  wheel  next 
used  is  made  of  sandstone,  and  water  only  is  used  upon  it ;  the  third  is  made 
of  willow-wood,  on  which  emery  and  putty  are  used ;  the  fourth  and  last, 
which  is  made  of  cork,  is  used  with  putty  only,  to  put  on  a  very  fine  polish  ; 
this  putty  is  an  oxide  of  tin  and  lead.  Ornamenting  glass  by  this  method 
is  the  most  useful  and  perhaps  the  most  elegant ;  for  nearly  every  piece  of 
glassware  can  be  thus  improved  in  appearance.  Its  application  is  very  wide. 
Upon  flint  glass  ornamentation  has  scarcely  any  limits. 

Cutting  makes  glass  very  brilliant :  the  ornament  is  sharp,  the  outlines  are 
well  defined,  and  the  designs  may  be  of  great  artistic  value.  Articles  are 
often  made  of  glass  composed  of  different  layers  or  coats,  and  each  of  these 
coats  may  be  of  a  different  color,  which,  when  cut  through,  shows  an  out- 
line of  various  colored  threads.  When  the  glass  is  evenly  coated,  as  it 
always  ought  to  be,  these  threads  are  marvellously  true.  When  two  coats  only 
are  blown,  the  first  one  is  cut  through,  leaving  the  ornament  of  one  color, 
while  the  glass  forming  the  ground  is  of  another.  It  has  not  been  definitely 
ascertained  when  small  wheels  were  first  used  for  engraving  ;  but  as  cutting 
and  engraving  have  always  been  done  at  the  same  period,  and  in  similar  ways, 
it  seems  that  the  use  of  wheels  in  one  case  might  have  suggested  the  use  ot 
them  in  the  other.  The  copper  wheels  now  used  for  engraving,  are  from  three 
inches  to  one  quarter  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  even  less  ;  some  seem  to  be 
merely  a  point.  Copper  is  considered  the  best  material  to  make  them  of,  as  it 
is  not  too  hard  or  harsh  to  the  glass,  and  yet  is  hard  enough  to  make  every 


Glass  — '  Cast,  Cut,  and  Engraved. 


171 


impression  necessary  upon  it.  The  wheels,  as  in  cutting,  are  placed  ver- 
tically, and  are  run  by  foot  or  other  power  ;  oil  and  emery  are  used  on  the 
wheels.  In  cheap  work  the  forms  or  designs  are  roughly  ground  upon  the 
glass  without  the  least  attempt  at  modelling,  often  leaving  the  outline  rough 
and  ill  defined  ;  in  finer  and  more  expensive  work  the  modelling  is  done  more 
carefully,  and  the  work  is  much  smoother  and  more  polished.  It  is  surprising 
what  fine  work  can  be  done  with  circular  tools.  Figures  can  be  executed  on  a 
very  small  scale,  and  great  attention  is  sometimes  paid  to  the  engraving  of 
animals.  The  slender  form  of  a  greyhound,  distinctly  showing  the  anatomy, 
has  been  engraved  on  a  space  of  about  three  quarters  of  an  inch  in  diameter. 
Though  all  figures  are  sunk,  they  have  the  appearance  of  being  in  relief. 

A  new  method  of  engraving  on  glass  was  made  known  in  1771,  and  was 
published  as  one  of  Scheele's  experiments.  Schwanard,  however,  had  dis- 
covered it  before,  but  had  never  made  the  process  known.  It  is  by  etching, 
and  is  properly  so  called  ;  in  this  country  it  is  called  embossing.  The  pro- 
cess is  simple,  and  very  much  like  copper-plate  etching. 

As  it  is  well  known  fluoric  acid  will  dissolve  glass,  it  is  generally  kept  in  rub- 
ber or  leaden  bottles  ;  a  paint  is  mixed  with  it.  The  proportions  of  the  mixture 
are  kept  secret,  each  individual  using  a  somewhat  different  mixture.  Asphal- 
tum  and  red  lead  are  the  principal  ingredients.  Etching  on  glass  may  be 
done  in  two  different  ways.  The  glass  to  be  etched  may  be  covered  with  the 
mixture,  or  color  as  it  is  called  in  the  workshops  ;  the  design  is  then  scratched 
through  the  color  with  a  sharp  instrument,  leaving  the  glass  bare  where  the 
tool  has  passed  over  it ;  it  is  then  immersed  in  fluoric  acid,  where  it  remains 
for  a  short  time.  During  this  time  it  should  be  carefully  watched,  and  taken 
from  the  acid  before  the  glass  is  too  much  eaten  away.  •  The  color  is  then 
washed  off"  the  glass  with  spirits  of  turpentine  and  sawdust ;  the  raised  surface 
of  the  glass  may  then  be  roughened  by  rubbing  it  over  with  emery  powder 
and  water,  leaving  it  white  and  somewhat  opaque,  while  the  ornament  remains 
clear.  Another  way,  and  the  best  where  it  can  be  done,  is  to  trace  the  design 
upon  the  glass  with  a  camel's-hair  pencil  well  loaded  with  color,  and  subject 
it  to  the  same  treatment  as  before.  In  this  case  the  ornament  will  be  raised, 
and,  after  the  roughing  process,  white,  the  glass  or  ground  remaining  clear. 

If  the  ornament  is  traced  round,  and  filled  in  with  color,  it  will  be  sunk. 
The  ground  will  then  be  rough,  and  the  figure  clear.  This  process  is  well 
adapted  for  large  work,  such  as  lights  for  windows  and  doors,  as  it  gives 
the  designer  a  fine  chance  for  bold  treatment,  and  teaches  the  good  workman 
to  draw  bold  curves,  which  he  does  with  surprising  accuracy.  The  parts  of  the 
glass  left  clear  may  be  made  dull  by  using  acid  prepared  for  that  purpose. 
Such  glass  freely  admits  light,  but  cannot  be  seen  through  ;  this  quahty  makes 
it  very  desirable  for  vestibule  doors,  which  are  exposed  to  the  street.  This 
ornamental  work,  which  is  very  beautiful  and  durable,  can  be  damaged  only 
by  cutting  into  the  glass.  It  is  very  expensive,  however;  wherefore  common 
cut  lights,  which  are  cheaper,  are  sometimes  used  instead.  Ornamentation 
is  not  only  applied  to  flat  glass,  but  also  to  a  variety  of  round  objects,  such 
as  globe  shades  for  gas  chandeliers,  cone-shades,  lamp-chimneys,  and  table- 


1/2 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


ware.  Glass  shades  of  all  descriptions  are  imported  from  England,  France, 
and  Germany,  and  are  considered  very  beautiful.  German  work  is  the 
cheapest. 

It  will,  perhaps,  not  be  out  of  place  to  mention  another  method  of  ornament- 
ing flat  glass,  which  gives  it  somewhat  the  same  appearance  as  if  it  were 
embossed,  though  it  is  very  inferior,  being  done  on  cheap  glass,  while  em- 
bossing is  always  done  on  plate  glass.  A  mixture  is  made  of  lampblack, 
whiting,  and  a  little  gum-arabic,  and  with  it  the  design  is  traced  on  the  glass  ; 
a  white  pigment  is  then  laid  on,  covering  the  surface  of  the  glass  evenly  ; 
it  is  then  placed  in  a  kiln,  and  the  white  burnt  in.  Burning,  however,  does 
not  fasten  the  black  mixture  to  the  glass,  for  it  is  easily  rubbed  off  when  it 
comes  out  of  the  kiln,  leaving  the  ornament  bright  and  clear.  It  has  been 
done  for  years  by  the  means  of  stencil  plates,  which  are  used  to  lay  on  the 
mixture.    The  article  is  cheap  and  durable,  but  does  not  look  well. 


Pottery  and  Porcelain. 


XXIV. 

POTTERY  AND  PORCELAIN. 

Pottery  is  classed  as  hard  and  soft  paste.  Hard  paste  is  that  which 
cannot  be  scratched  with  a  knife  ;  it  is  opaque  and  translucent,  and  is  divided 
into  fine  earthenware  and  stoneware. 

Fine  earthenware  is  composed  of  a  white  paste,  made  out  of  plastic  clay, 
silex,  and  lime  ;  its  glassy  glaze  is  of  lead.  It  is  fired  at  a  temperature  of 
25°-ioo°,*  and  glazed  at  a  still  lower  temperature.  This  class  includes 
Palissy's  and  Wedgewood's  fine  earthenwares. 

Stoneware  is  composed  of  the  same  ingredients,  with  the  addition  of  stone- 
ware cement.  The  glaze  is  of  sea  salt,  or  lead,  or  slag  from  a  furnace.  The 
salt  glaze  is  applied  but  once,  the  lead  twice.  The  firing  requires  a  temper- 
ature of  ioo°-2oo°,  and  extends  from  four  to  eight  days. 

Under  the  head  of  translucent  hard  paste  is  included  Wedgewood's  English 
soft  porcelain.  Its  material  is  kaolin,  clay,  and  bones,  glazed  with  red  lead, 
borax,  soda,  and  flint  glass. 

Soft  paste  is  classed  as  unglazed,  including  Wedgewood's  imitation  of 
Etruscan  vases  ;  and  glazed,  —  mezzo  and  true  Majolica,  which  latter  includes 
Delia  Robbia  ware.  This  ware  is  composed  of  argillaceous  marl,  sand,  and 
potter's  clay ;  it  is  colored  or  whitish,  and  of  earthy  fracture  ;  the  glaze  is 
plumbiferous  or  stanniferous.  It  is  first  baked  at  a  temperature  of  675°,  and 
again  after  the  application  of  the  enamel,  as  it  is  difiicult  to  lay  it  upon  crude 
paste. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  hard  paste  generally  requires  a  lower  temperature 
than  soft  paste  ;  and  it  is  called  soft  porcelain,  because  it  will  not  bear  more 
than  a  certain  temperature  without  softening.  Silex  is  used  to  make  the  clay 
firm  and  keep  it  from  cracking,  and  when  in  the  form  of  calcined  flints,  to 
impart  translucency. 

All  raw  materials  for  fictile  work  must  alike  be  reduced  to  a  fine  state  of  self- 
division,  and  the  paste  as  a  whole  must  be  homogeneous,  in  order  to  secure 
uniform  shrinkage.  This  is  done  by  cutting  and  grinding  the  materials,  and 
then  washing  them  until  in  a  state  of  suspension.    The  paste  when  solidified 


*  The  degrees  given  are  according  to  Wedgewood's  pyrometer,  which  are  to  those  of  Fahrenheit  as 
1  : 7  nearly. 


174 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


is  beaten  and  kneaded  until  it  is  homogeneous,  and  the  air  is  expelled  from 
it.  It  is  then  ready  to  be  formed.  If  the  clay  is  to  take  a  circular  or  cylin- 
drical shape,  it  is  placed  in  the  middle  of  the  potter's  wheel  (invented  1700 
B.  C),  a  horizontal  table  to  which  a  rotary  motion  is  imparted,  while  the  pot- 
ter shapes  it  with  his  fingers,  and  with  an  iron  of  an  inverse  outline  to  that  of 
the  exterior  surface  of  the  object,  at  the  same  time  hollowing  out  the  interior. 
When  objects  are  decorated  with  raised  or  incised  ornament,  the  clay  is  rolled 
out  and  pressed  in  a  mould  of  gypsum  or  some  other  material.  By  means  of 
moulds,  cameos,  statuary,  and  Palissy  raised  work  are  made.  When  objects 
are  ready  for  the  kiln,  they  are  usually  placed  in  seggars,  or  protecting  cases, 
set  one  above  another,  to  exclude  ashes  and  smoke.  To  secure  as  far  as 
possible  this  latter  object,  the  air  for  a  pottery  fire  is  admitted  from  above. 
Notwithstanding  these  precautions,  however,  about  one  fourth  of  the  pottery 
baked  at  one  time,  is  distorted  or  otherwise  rendered  unfit  for  sale. 

"  Porcelain  painting  is  an  art  closely  allied  to  that  of  glass  painting, 
the  effect  being  entirely  restricted,  however,  to  reflected  light,  as  the  semi- 
opacity  of  the  ware  forbids  the  use  of  all  transparent  colors.  The  pigments 
are  either  metallic  oxides  or  enamels  and  glasses,  colored  by  proper  oxides 
and  ground  to  a  fine  powder.  When  it  is  remembered  that  the  desired  tints 
of  color  appear  only  after  firing,  it  will  be  understood  that  porcelain  painting 
involves  artistic  difficulties  unknown  to  the  miniature  painter.  Many  of  the 
pigments  produce  their  appropriate  tints  at  a  far  less  intense  temperature  than 
that  of  the  baking  kiln,  while  others  form  compounds  so  fusible  with  the 
materials  of  the  glaze  that  they  flow  at  a  temperature  below  that  required 
to  fuse  others.  This  fact  divides  the  pigments  into  the  easily  fusible  colors 
(technically  called  muffle  colors  because  they  require  to  be  fired  in  an  oven 
or  earthenware  box,  called  a  muffle),  and  refractory  colors,  or  those  which  will 
stand  the  utmost  heat  of  the  kiln.  The  latter  may  be  put  on  with  the  glaze,  or 
beneath  it  on  the  biscuit  surface  without  injuring  the  smoothness,  brilliancy, 
or  hardness  of  the  glaze,  while  the  muffle  colors  require  oxide  of  lead  to  make 
them  act  well,  and  are  always  elevated  above  the  glazed  surface ;  they  are 
sensibly  felt  as  a  raised  surface,  and  are  more  easily  worn  away.  The  refractory 
colors  are  blue  with  cobalt ;  green  with  chrome  ;  brown  with  oxide  of  iron,  oxide 
of  manganese,  and  perchromate  of  iron  ;  yellow  with  oxide  of  titanium,  and 
black  with  oxide  of  uranium  :  all  are  applied  with  silicate  of  potash  or  soda,  as  a 
flux.  Violets,  reds,  and  browns  of  manganese,  copper,  and  iron  are  refractory 
colors  for  hard  pottery,  though  muffle  colors  for  soft  pottery.  Gold,  which  is 
apphed  to  porcelain  in  the  state  of  fine  powder  (precipitated  by  sulphate  of 
iron  from  its  solutions),  is  made  to  adhere  to  the  glaze  by  the  addition  of 
oxide  of  bismuth,  rubbed  up  with  thick  oil  or  turpentine.  The  bismuth  oxide 
fuses  with  the  glaze  and  causes  the  gold  to  adhere  so  firmly,  that  it  can  be 
burnished  with  an  agate.    Silver  and  platinum  may  also  be  applied." 

The  process  of  applying  refractory  colors  is  this  :  When  the  piece,  trans- 
formed by  a  first  firing  into  biscuit,  has  been  dipped  in  the  liquid  glaze,  it  is 
left  to  dry ;  then  upon  the  hardened  surface  the  artist  traces  the  figures  and 
ornaments  which  he  desires  in  vitrifiable  colors.    This  painting  upon  the  raw 


Pottery  and  Porcelain. 


175 


glaze  requires  great  manual  dexterity,  for  it  is  almost  impossible  to  retouch 
upon  a  substance  which  when  rubbed  scales  off  and  dissolves  in  water. 
Placed  in  seggars  with  tripods,  the  ware  receives  its  second  firing,  which 
incorporates  the  painting  with  the  glaze,  and  gives  a  softness  which  no  other 
process  can  impart.  After  a  second  firing,  one  can  paint,  efface,  and  retouch. 
Upon  the  return  of  the  object  to  the  kiln,  the  enamel  again  becomes  fluid, 
and  the  colors  are  incorporated  as  well  as  when  they  were  laid  upon  the  raw 
glaze. 

Majolica. —  The  Moors,  being  masters  of  Persia  and  Egypt,  were 
acquainted  with  the  highest  forms  of  ceramic  art.  Their  pottery  is  charac- 
terized by  elegance  of  form  and  by  the  metallic  lustred  tints  of  its  glaze. 
Its  golden  lustre  has  obtained  for  it  the  name  of  ''gilded  work."  The 
decorative  colors,  as  seen  in  Moorish  vases  of  about  1300  A.  D.,  are  few  in 
number.  Golden  yellow,  and  a  pale  blue,  encircled  or  heightened  by  a  pale 
gold  which  harmonizes  with  the  azure  color  of  the  design,  as  well  as  with  the 
cream-white  ground,  are  the  principal  colors.  The  decorative  patterns  are 
texts  of  the  sacred  writings,  light  scrolls,  arabesques,  and  geometric  combi- 
nations. 

Majolica,  one  of  the  Balearic  Isles,  was  the  principal  seat  of  Moorish 
manufacture. 

The  Pisans  conquered  the  pirate  inhabitants  of  this  island  11 13  A.  D.,  and 
brought  away  a  knowledge  of  their  modes  of  fabrication  and  specimens  of 
their  work.  Thus  in  the  twelfth  century,  ceramic  art  in  Italy  received  a 
great  impulse.  A  ware  covered  with  white  paste  or  engobe,  through  which 
designs  were  scratched  and  glazed  with  lead,  was  largely  made,  and  became 
by  amplification,  Mezzo-Majolica,  the  period  of  which  extends  to  1450  A.  D. 
This  Majolica  differs  from  true  MajoHca  in  being  a  glazed,  not  an  enamelled 
ware ;  that  is,  its  whiteness  or  color  is  derived  from  the  paste  overlying  the 
ground,  and  not  from  an  enamel.  Large,  thick,  and  clumsy  plates  of  a  dirty 
gray,  coated  on  the  back  with  a  dull  yellow  varnish,  are  of  Mezzo-Majolica, 
and  their  glaze  is  of  lead,  which  has  a  pearly  lustre. 

The  discovery  and  application  of  a  tin  enamel  to  pottery  belongs  to  the 
Italian  Rennaissance.  Pesaro  and  Cafagginolo  claim  the  honor  of  this 
discovery,  and  at  the  latter  place,  Luca  Delia  Robbia  probably  learned  the 
method  of  applying  it.  The  "secret,"  possessed  by  his  family  for  one  hun- 
dred years,  probably  related  to  the  tempering  and  firing  of  it  in  the  clay,  so 
as  to  burn  large  masses  truly  and  thoroughly.  In  1438  Luca  Delia  Robbia 
executed  his  famous  bas-reliefs  of  "  Singing  and  Dancing  Boys  "  for  the 
organ-loft  balustrade  of  the  Cathedral  in  Florence.  Orders  came  in  upon 
him  so  fast  that  he  cast  about  for  a  quicker  way  of  filling  them  than  by  the 
chisel.  Having  modelled  a  work  in  clay,  he  burned  it  in  the  furnace,  and 
coated  it  with  an  impenetrable  and  vitrified  coating  of  lead  and  tin,  perhaps 
mixed  with  antimony  and  other  minerals.  Maestro  Giorgio,  of  Gubbio, 
made  Majolica  plates,  whose  golden  yellow  and  ruby  red  iridescence,  given 
by  a  now  unknown  process,  is  of  great  beauty. 

,  The  subjects  of  the  early  Delia  Robbia  reliefs  are  chiefly  religious,  to 


176 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


which  the  glistening  white  of  the  ware  is  well  adapted.  The  eyes  are 
blackened,  and  the  figures  relieved  by  a  pale,  lapis-blue  ground.  In  later 
works,  Andrea  Delia  Robbia  introduced  moderate  tints  of  green,  violet, 
brown,  and  yellow  for  draperies  ;  Luca  left  the  flesh  parts  uncolored,  perhaps 
because  he  never  discovered  a  fitting  enamel,  perhaps  that  the  modelling 
might  be  more  distinctly  seen.  The  mouldings  around  his  compositions  are 
few,  the  flowers  of  simple  varieties  and  in  low  relief.  The  enamel  he  used 
was  thick,  liquid,  and  transparent.  By  these  marks,  as  well  as  by  his  pure 
Raphaelesque  design,  Luca's  works  may  be  known. 

Luca  left  his  work  and  traditions  to  Andrea,  his  nephew  and  assistant, 
who  made  transportable  shrines,  medallions,  and  altar-pieces.  His  technic 
is  skilful  and  his  compositions  are  pleasing.  The  countenances  are  expres- 
sive, but  mannered ;  the  frames  are  heavy  with  cherub -heads,  and  fruit  is 
substituted  for  flowers. 

Andrea  left  the  manufacture  to  three  of  his  sons,  —  Luca,  who  settled  at 
Rome ;  Girolamo,  who  decorated  the  chateau  of  Madrid  near  Paris  for 
Francis  I  ;  and  Giovanni,  an  artist  of  inferior  ability.  Luca  and  Girolamo 
are  highly  praised  by  their  cotemporaries,  but  we  know  little  of  their  work,  as, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  in  the  Louvre,  the  bas-reliefs  of  the  Chateau  de 
Madrid  were  ground  for  cement  during  the  Revolution. 

From  1450-1700  the  manufacture  of  Majolica  was  carried  on  in  all  the 
principal  cities  of  Italy.  The  great  factories  are  classed  as  follows  :  Gubbio, 
Urbino,  Castel  Durante,  Faienza,  Forli,  Deruta,  Chatfaguolo,  Venice,  and  Cas- 
telli.  Wares  from  each  of  these  places  may  be  recognized  by  their  peculiari- 
ties of  manufacture  and  decoration.  The  towns  under  the  protection  of  the 
Duke  of  Urbino  —  Gubbio,  Castel  Durante,  Urbino,  and  Pesaro  —  were 
remarkable  for  the  perfection  of  their  brilliant  white  glaze,  and  the  metallic 
iridescence  given  to  their  Majolicas  by  a  compound  of  lead,  silver,  copper, 
and  gold.  In  this  Gubbio  surpassed  all  the  rest.  At  Urbino  the  designs  of 
Raphael  were  apphed  to  Majolica  in  the  best  period  ;  hence  its  designation, 
"  Raphael  ware."    II  Frate  was  one  of  the  decorators  at  Deruta. 

The  best  period  of  Majolica  is  from  1 540-1 560,  when  subjects  were  furnished 
by  Raphael,  Titian,  and  other  great  masters  of  the  Renaissance.  Later,  the 
plates  are  decorated  with  pictures  of  ladies  and  love  mottoes.  During  the 
decline  of  the  art  they  were  decorated,  and  trophies,  sea  monsters,  large  bou- 
quets, and  arabesques  were  used  as  ornament.  Last  of  all,  Flemish  prints  were 
copied  upon  the  ware.  The  forms  in  Majolica  are  distinct,  graceful,  and  few  ; 
vases,  ewers,  pilgrim  bottles,  and  plates,  make  up  nearly  the  whole  catalogue. 
The  making  of  Majolica  was  greatly  patronized  by  the  Italian  princes.  Upon 
the  invasion  of  Italy  by  the  French,  the  latter  were  seized  with  a  great  passion 
for  enamelled  ware,  and  inferior  Italian  artists  rushed  to  France,  there  to  make 
their  fortunes.  At  Nevers,  Majolica  was  first  named  Faience,  from  the  natal 
town  of  the  head  workman. 

In  1539  there  lived  at  Saintes  a  man  named  Bernard  Palissy,  a  glazier  and 
surveyor ;  he  was  also  a  self-taught  chemist  and  geometrician,  and  had  theorized 
upon  artesian  wells  and  the  expansive  force  of  steam.   This  wide-minded  man 


Pottery  and  Porcelain. 


177 


saw  a  turned  and  enamelled  cup  of  such  beauty  that,  though  possessing  no 
knowledge  of  the  potter's  art,  he  was  possessed  with  the  desire  of  discovering 
the  secret  of  its  manufacture.  He  therefore  began  to  grind  up  materials  of  all 
kinds,  to  build  furnaces,  and  to  fire  potsherds,  but  these  would  not  fuse 
equally,  and  therefore  formed  a  basis  for  future  experiments.  Why  he  did  not 
repair  to  Gubbio  or  Castel  Durante,  where  the  mode  of  manufacture  was  per- 
fectly well  known,  cannot  be  conceived.  But  after  sixteen  long  years  of 
struggle  against  all  the  obstacles  which  ignorance  and  poverty  threw  in  his 
path,  he  succeeded  in  making  a  pottery  with  a  jasper  glaze,  warmly  tinted  with 
brown,  white,  and  blue,  thrown  in  splashes,  largely  and  equally  incorporated 
into  each  other.  The  application  of  this  glaze  to  goblets  in  relief,  salt- 
cellars, etc.,  enabled  him  to  live  while  pursuing  further  investigations.  He 
then  invented  a  peculiar  kind  of  pottery  which  he  called  "  rustic  pottery."  By 
dedicating  this  ware  to  the  Queen  Mother,  and  thereby  obtaining  her  protec- 
tion, he  saved  himself  from  the  natural  consequences  of  his  Protestant  heresies. 
His  rustic  dishes  have  a  rough  arc,  strewn  with  fossil  shells,  frogs,  lizards,  and 
snakes,  as  well  as  eels,  pike,  and  trout,  swimming  in  the,  water.  Palissy  also 
engraved  patterns  upon  his  dishes,  filling  their  depressions  with  various  colors. 
After  he  had  been  called  to  Court,  and  had  seen  the  artistic  marvels  of  the 
metropolis,  he  showed  a  new  phase  of  his  talent  in  the  application  of  human 
figures  to  his  rustic  compositions.  His  admirable  Magdalen  kneeling  in  the 
midst  of  shells,  and  his  Charity  framed  in  fossils,  may  be  seen  at  the  Louvre. 
Palissy  also  covered  the  beautiful  pewter  vases  of  Briot  with  enamel. 

In  material,  Palissy  ware  is  coarse  and  inferior  to  Majolica  ;  neither  is  its 
glaze,  of  a  yellowish  tint,  as  good.  Its  paste  is  hard,  sonorous,  and  pinkish- 
white  ;  the  color  adheres  to  it  without  perceptible  thickness,  and  preserves  a 
remarkable  warmth,  which  indicates  firing  at  a  high  temperature.  The  join- 
ings of  Palissy  reliefs  are  imperceptible,  their  forms  are  fine  and  ornament 
good.  Palissy  often  took  a  mould  from  the  natural  object,  and  applied  it  to 
the  clay  in  turn.  His  pride  in  honest,  perfect  work  and  his  knowledge  of 
nature  have  made  his  inventions  memorable. 

The  manufacture  of  coarse  pottery  had  long  been  established  in  England. 
Enamelled  ware  was  produced  in  1642.  Under  the  protection  of  George  II 
(1750-1765),  English  china  was  produced,  rivalling  that  of  Dresden  and 
Sevres.  The  first  English  potteries  were  not  conducted  by  Englishmen,  and 
died  out  with  their  imported  directors.  About  1710  two  brothers  from  Niirn- 
berg  established  a  pottery  at  Burslem  in  Staffordshire.  They  used  the  red 
clay  of  the  district  combined  with  stoneware  material.  The  secret  of  their 
process  was  discovered,  and  their  ware  improved  by  the  addition  of  flint, 
giving  the  composition  a  white  color.  After  this  discovery,  any  desirable  tint 
could  be  given  to  the  ware  by  the  addition  of  metallic  oxides. 

Twenty  years  after  the  establishment  of  potteries  at  Burslem,  Josiah  Wedge- 
wood  was  born  there.  As  Palissy  was  a  naturalist,  so  Wedgewood  was  an  artist 
in  pottery.  His  first  invention,  1755,  was  of  a  green  ware,  exquisitely  mod- 
elled in  imitation  of  leaves,  and  noted  for  its  glaze,  fulness  and  brilliancy  of 
color.  He  then  made  small  figures,  shepherds,  etc.  To  obtain  capital  for 
23 


178 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


more  classic  work  he  improved  the  cream-colored  ware  of  the  vicinity  in 
shape  and  design.  The  approval  of  the  queen  (a  set  of  this  having  been  sent 
her)  gave  it  the  name  of  Queen's  ware.  When  these  were  ornamented  at  all,  it 
was  with  a  simple  band  or  a  few  delicate  leaves  in  color.  In  1768  Wedgewood 
began  business  for  himself.  In  1762  he  secured  a  road  to  the  pottery  dis- 
trict, and  later,  water  communication  between  the  Mersey  and  Trent.  The 
intercourse  thus  opened  with  the  outer  world  helped  the  establishment  and 
progress  of  Wedgewood's  ornamental  art  greatly.  He  bought  an  estate 
between  Burslem  and  Newcastle  on  the  canal,  named  it  Etruria,  and  estab- 
lished his  vase  potteries  there. 

Bentley,  an  extensive  jobber  of  earthenware,  of  great  business  ability, 
became  his  partner  in  1766.  About  this  time  he  made  a  medallion  likeness 
of  Pitt,  white  upon  a  chocolate  ground,  —  his  first  attempt  at  relief,  —  and 
followed  it  with  countless  copies  of  antique  works,  rilievo  busts  and  cameos, 
together  with  original  subjects  designed  by  Flaxman,  who  worked  for  him 
thirteen  years.  Wedgewood's  most  noted  work  was  the  reproduction  of  the 
Portland  vase,  which  he  accomplished  by  casting  a  white  opaque  glaze  over  a 
deep  blue  ground,  and  then,  with  infinite  labor,  grinding  it  down  to  the  ground 
with  a  diamond.  A  set  of  three  hundred  and  sixty  pieces,  which  he  made 
for  Catherine  I  of  Russia,  each  piece  painted  with  a  separate  view  of  English 
scenery,  was  one  of  his  most  important  commissions.  Perhaps  the  greatest 
of  his  inventions  was  the  application  of  the  brilliant  glaze  and  bright  enamel 
to  hard  pottery,  which  had  previously  been  used  only  upon  porcelain.  This 
brought  it  within  the  means  of  the  general  public.  He  changed  the  tide 
of  import  to  export.  His  wares,  as  catalogued  by  their  producer,  are  :  porphyry, 
black  basalts  or  black  Egyptian  ware,  jasper  ware  with  white  reliefs,  porce- 
lain biscuit  fitted  for  chemical  purposes,  and  table  or  queen's  ware.  Each  of 
these  wares  at  the  time  of  their  production  was  peculiar  to  Wedgewood. 

Josiah  Wedgewood  was  a  man  of  taste,  ambition,  originality,  ingenuity,  and 
business  ability.  He  selected  eminent  assistants,  and  was  fortunate  in  the 
choice  of  his  partner,  who  introduced  him  to  the  patronage  and  acquaintance 
of  the  great.  His  sons  and  grandsons  have  carried  on  the  manufacture  of 
Wedgewood  ware  in  a  manner  worthy  of  its  founder. 


Historical  Ornament. 


179 


XXV. 

HISTORICAL  ORNAMENT. 

In  the  earliest  times,  when  man  made  tools  or  weapons  of  stone  or  other 
material,  he  showed  a  natural  love  of  ornament,  and  each  epoch  in  man's 
history  is  characterized  by  an  individuality  of  ornamentation.  To  this  indi- 
viduality the  name  of  style  has  been  given,  and  to  the  ancient  or  historic 
styles  we  are  to  give  our  attention  in  this  paper. 

The  savage  tattooes  his  body  in  order  to  make  himself  terrible  in  the  eyes 
of  his  enemies,  or  because  he  thinks  it  gives  him  a  new  beauty  ;  he  forms  orna- 
ments by  weaving  straw,  bark,  or  pieces  of  wood,  or  carves  his  weapons  or 
other  articles  into  fantastic  shapes.  Occasionally,  a  mind  stronger  than  those 
around  it  impresses  itself  on  a  generation,  and  carries  with  it  a  host  of  weaker 
minds,  yet  never  so  closely  as  to  destroy  the  individual  ambition  to  create  : 
hence  the  creation  of  styles  and  their  modification. 

There  are,  of  course,  many  varieties  of  nearly  every  style,  but  so  long  as 
the  chief  characteristics  remain  the  same,  it  is  the  same  ;  therefore  styles  are 
comparatively  few.  The  whole  number  of  the  great  characteristic  develop- 
ments or  styles  which  have  had  any  influence  on  European  civilization  are 
nine,  and  these  nine  maybe  divided  into  three  groups,  —  the  ancient,  the 
mediseval,  and  the  modern. 

The  ancient  styles  are  the  Egyptian,  Greek,  and  Roman.  The  medieval 
are  the  Byzantine,  Saracenic,  and  Gothic.  The  modern  are  the  Renaissance, 
Cinquecento,  and  Louis  Quatorze. 

These  various  styles  extend  over  a  period  of  upwards  of  four  thousand 
five  hundred  years,  of  which  two  thousand  may  be  considered  as  the  ancient 
period,  from  the  early  historic  times  to  the  fourth  century  of  our  era  ;  about 
one  thousand  years,  from  the  fourth  to  the  fourteenth  century,  may  be  classed 
as  the  mediaeval  ;  and  the  last  five  centuries,  from  the  fourteenth  to  the 
nineteenth,  comprise  the  period  of  the  Renaissance,  or  modern  period.  Style 
is  only  another  name  for  character.  Every  style  is  distinguished  by  its 
characteristics,  and  not  by  what  it  has  in  common  with  other  styles. 

An  ornamental  work  does  not  belong  to  a  style  because  it  was  executed 
in  the  period  of  that  style,  for  a  style  is  defined  by  its  characteristics.  The 
earliest  style  of  ornament  is  the  Egyptian,  which  was  already  established 
1800  B.  C.    It  is  a  hieroglyphic  style  in  its  sentiments  and  details. 


i8o 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


The  architecture  of  Egypt  has  this  peculiarity  over  all  other  styles,  —  that 
the  more  ancient  the  monument,  the  more  perfect  the  art.  Most  of  the 
remains  of  Egyptian  art  with  which  we  are  acquainted,  exhibit  it  in  a  state  of 
decline.  Monuments  which  were  erected  two  thousand  years  before  the 
Christian  era  are  seen  to  have  been  made  from  still  more  ancient  and  more 
perfect  buildings. 

We  are  carried  back  to  a  time  too  remote  to  enable  us  to  discover  any 
trace  of  the  origin  of  Egyptian  architecture  ;  and  while  we  can  trace  in  direct 
succession  the  Greek,  the  Roman,  Byzantine  with  its  offshoots,  the  Arabian, 
the  Moresque,  and  the  Gothic,  we  must  believe  that  of  Egypt  is  a  pure  original 
style,  which  arose  with  civilization  in  central  Africa,  passed  through  count- 
less ages  to  the  culminating  point  of  perfection,  and  fell  into  the  state  of 
decline  in  which  we  see  it.  In  all  other  styles  we  can  trace  a  rapid  rise 
from  infancy  to  perfection,  followed  by  a  lingering  decline. 

Egyptian  ornament  was  not  often  chosen  for  effect's  sake  ;  it  generally  has 
some  meaning,  being  symbolical  in  character,  though  derived  directly  from 
nature,  and  conventionalized  under  the  direction  of  the  priests  in  such  a 
manner  as  would  best  symbolize  their  religious  beliefs.  We  cannot  but 
admire  the  ingenuity  of  the  Egyptian  decorator  who  converted  the  almost 
incomprehensible  hieroglyphics  into  tasteful  and  pleasing  ornaments. 

The  zigzag,  which  was  the  type  of  water  and  symbolical  of  the  overflowing 
of  the  Nile  from  which  the  greater  part  of  Egypt  derived  its  fertility,  was  an 
important  detail  of  ornament,  as  was  also  the  lotus,  which  had  a  similar 
signification. 

The  scarabaeus  or  beetle  and  the  winged  globe  as  the  symbols  of  immor- 
tality, are  also  important  details  ;  they  occur  of  all  sizes  and  in  almost  all 
materials,  and  were  used  as  talisman.  The  globe  is  supposed  to  represent  the 
sun  ;  the  wings  Providence  ;  and  the  two  asps,  one  on  each  side  of  the  globe, 
dominion  or  monarchy,  —  thus  uniting  the  creative,  protective,  and  distributing 
powers.  We  almost  invariably  find  this  ornament  placed  over  doors  and 
windows,  and  in  passages.  It  is  sometimes  of  an  enormous  size,  extending 
thirty  feet  or  more.    It  also  frequently  adorns  costumes  and  mummy-cases. 

There  are  several  other  winged  figures  found  in  Egyptian  friezes,  natural 
and  unnatural,  as  the  vulture  with  the  tau  and  ostrich  feather,  the  hawk,  the 
winged  asp,  and  the  human  winged  figure,  corresponding  apparently  to  those 
described  in  the  works  of  the  Jews. 

The  sphinx,  a  remarkable  object  in  Egyptian  art,  does  not  come  under  the 
category  of  winged  creatures  ;  in  this  it  is  distinguished  from  the  Greek 
sphinx,  which  is  always  winged,  and  always  female  The  Egyptian  sphinx 
is  always  male,  and  is  supposed  to  represent  the  combination  of  physical 
and  intellectual  power. 

It  is  also  associated  with  the  special  forms  and  attributes  of  the  great 
Egyptian  deities.  We  find  the  man-sphinx,  the  ram-sphinx,  the  hawk-sphinx, 
or  the  lion's  body  with  the  head  of  the  man,  the  ram,  or  the  hawk,  according  to 
the  deity  symbolized.  Sphinxes  were  generally  placed  either  side  of  the 
paths  leading  to  the  temple. 


Historical  Ornament. 


i8i 


The  swelling  asp  is  also  a  very  characteristic  ornament.  We  find  friezes 
and  borders  composed  of  a  series  of  asps,  and  it  is  very  common  to  find  them 
arranged  also  in  symmetrical  opposition,  one  on  each  side  of  the  cartouche 
or  shield  enclosing  the  hieroglyphic  name  of  a  king,  having  the  same 
signification  of  dominion,  with  a  special  reference  to  the  king  or  dynasty 
expressed  by  the  hieroglyphics  in  the  cartouche. 

The  most  essential  characteristics  of  an  Egyptian  design,  then,  are  these:  the 
winged  globe,  the  lotus,  and  the  papyrus,  the  zigzag,  the  asp,  and  the  cartouche 
containing  hieroglyphics.  These  we  find  mixed  up  with  many  geometrical 
forms,  as  the  fret,  the  spiral  or  wave-scroll,  the  star,  etc. 

The  lotus  and  papyrus,  growing  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  symbolize  food 
for  the  body  and  mind,  and  the  feathers  of  rare  birds,  which  were  carried  before 
the  king,  are  emblems  of  sovereignty  ;  the  palm-branch,  with  the  twisted  cord 
made  from  its  stems,  are  types  used  in  decorating  the  temples  of  the  gods,  the 
palaces  of  kings,  and  as  body  coverings. 

Egyptian  ornament  is  of  three  kinds,  —  that  which  is  constructive,  that  which 
is  representative  but  at  the  same  time  conventionally  rendered,  and  that  which 
is  simply  decorative.  To  the  first,  namely,  constructive  ornament,  belong 
the  decorations  of  the  means  of  support,  and  the  crowning  members  of  the 
walls.  The  column  was  an  enlarged  papyrus  plant,  the  base  representing  the 
root,  the  shaft  the  stalk,  and  the  capital  the  full-blown  flower,  surrounded 
by  a  number  of  smaller  plants.  Although  the  lotus  and  papyrus  formed  the 
types  of  most  Egyptian  capitals,  yet  they  were  ingeniously  varied  and  arranged; 
while  from  Greek  days  to  our  own  time  the  world  has  been  content  with 
acanthus  leaves  arranged  around  a  bell  for  the  capitals  of  columns,  with  little 
variation  of  plan. 

The  shaft  of  the  Egyptian  column,  when  circular,  was  made  to  retain  the 
triangular  shape  of  the  papyrus  by  raised  lines  which  divided  its  circum- 
ference into  three  equal  portions  ;  when  the  column  was  formed  by  four  or 
eight  shafts  bound  together,  these  had  each  a  sharp  edge  on  their  outer  face 
for  the  same  reason. 

The  crowning  member  or  cornice  of  an  Egyptian  building  was  decorated 
with  feathers,  which  appear  to  have  been  emblems  of  sovereignty,  whilst  the 
winged  globe  in  the  centre  is  an  emblem  of  divinity. 

The  second  kind  of  Egyptian  ornament  results  from  the  conventional  rep- 
resentation of  actual  things  on  the  walls  of  temples  and  tombs  ;  and  here 
again,  in  the  representation  of  offerings  to  the  gods,  or  of  various  articles  of 
daily  use,  in  the  paintings  of  actual  scenes  of  their  domestic  life,  every  flower 
or  other  object  is  portrayed,  not  as  a  reality,  but  as  an  ideal  representation. 
We  find  that  the  Egyptians  obeyed  the  laws  of  radiation  of  the  leaves  and 
veins  on  the  leaves  in  graceful  curves  from  the  parent  stem  ;  and  that  they 
not  only  followed  this  rule  in  drawing  the  individual  flower,  but  in  the  group- 
ing of  several  flowers  together. 

The  third  kind  of  Egyptian  ornament,  which  is  simply  decorative,  is  used 
on  tombs,  dresses,  utensils,  and  sarcophagi. 

Rope  ornament  was  subject  to  a  geometrical  arrangement,  but  the  unrolling 


l82 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


of  the  cord  gives  the  very  form  which  is  the  source  of  so  much  beauty  in 
many  subsequent  styles. 

As  we  proceed  with  other  styles,  we  shall  see  that  they  approached  perfec- 
tion only  so  far  as  they  followed  Egyptian  principles. 

The  firmness,  justness,  and  fulness  of  Egyptian  drawing  has  never  been 
surpassed  ;  the  lines  of  hieroglyphics  covering  the  papyrus,  and  executed  in 
running  hand,  surpass  sometimes  even  the  finest  works  of  the  Greeks. 
The  Egyptians  used  color  as  they  did  form,  conventionally :  the  colors 
used  were  principally  red,  blue,  yellow,  with  black  and  white  to  define  and 
give  distinctiveness  to  the  rest ;  green  was  generally  used,  though  not 
universally,  as  a  local  color,  as  upon  the  green  leaves  of  the  lotus  ;  these 
were,  however,  indifferently  colored  green  or  blue,  —  blue  in  more  ancient 
times  and  green  during  the  Ptolemaic  period,  at  which  time,  also,  both  purple 
and  brown  were  added,  but  with  diminished  effect. 

In  Egypt  we  find  grandeur  of  proportion,  simplicity  of  parts,  and  splendor 
or  costliness  of  material  to  be  the  great  art-characteristics,  as  they  are  the 
prevailing  characteristics  of  Asiatic  art. 

Assyrian  and  Persian  styles.  —  Those  best  versed  in  Assyrian  art,  are 
inclined  to  believe  that  it  was  not  an  original  style,  but  was  borrowed  from 
the  Egyptians,  modified  by  the  difference  of  the  religion  and  habits  of  the 
Assyrian  people. 

Greek  style.  —  Greek  art,  though  borrowed  partly  from  the  Egyptian  and 
partly  from  the  Assyrian,  was  the  development  of  an  old  idea  in  a  new 
direction:  symmetry  and  regularity  are  its  general  principles.  The  Greeks 
carried  pure  form  to  a  point  of  perfection  which  has  never  since  been 
reached  ;  their  art  was  wanting,  however,  in  one  of  the  great  charms  which 
should  always  accompany  ornament,  namely,  symbolism.  It  was  purely  dec- 
orative, never  representative,  and  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  constructive,  for 
the  various  members  of  a  Greek  monument  rather  present  surfaces  exqui- 
sitely designed  to  receive  ornament :  the  ornament  could  be  removed,  and 
the  structure  would  remain  the  same. 

The  Doric  Age.  —  The  first  historic  age  of  Greek  art,  from  the  first  historic 
records,  comprises  altogether  a  period  of  about  four  centuries. 

The  style  of  this  period  prevailed  from  the  western  shores  of  Asia  to  the 
extreme  limits  of  Sicily,  and  is  illustrated  by  the  many  interesting  Doric  ruins 
still  preserved.  The  most  important  manufacture  of  the  period,  of  which 
remains  exist,  was  that  of  terra-cotta  vases  ;  and  on  these  we  find  all  the 
characteristic  ornaments  of  a  distinctively  Greek  style  of  decoration.  These 
vases  show  exactly  the  same  ornaments,  though  necessarily  modified  in 
their  treatment,  as  those  which  are  found  in  the  architectural  ornaments  of 
the  time.  The  examples  of  representative  ornaments  suited  to  architecture 
are  the  zigzag,  the  wave  scroll,  the  labyrinth  or  Greek  fret,  cable  mouldings, 
astragals,  ogees,  channellings,  egg  mouldings,  and  ornaments  designed  from 
the  ox's  skull  called  bucranes. 

There  is  but  little  doubt  that  we  are  acquainted  with  Greek  art  in  all  its 
phases,  as  the  painted  ornament  on  the  Greek  and  Etruscan  vases  does  not 
differ  from  that  found  on  any  temples  which  we  know.    Like  the  Egyptian, 


Historical  Ornament. 


183 


the  types  are  few,  but  the  conventional  rendering  is  much  farther  removed 
from  these  types. 

A  very  characteristic  feature  of  Greek  ornament,  continued  by  the  Romans 
but  abandoned  during  the  Byzantine  period,  is  that  the  various  parts  of  a 
scroll  grow  out  of  each  other  in  a  continuous  line,  as  may  be  seen  in  the 
ornament  from  the  Choragic  monument  of  Lysicrates.  In  the  Byzantine, 
Arabian,  Moresque,  and  early  English  styles,  the  flowers  branch  off  on  either 
side  from  a  continuous  Hne. 

We  have  here  an  instance  of  how  slight  a  change  is  sufficient  to  generate 
an  entirely  new  order  of  forms  and  ideas.  Roman  ornament  was  constantly 
struggling  against  an  apparently  fixed  law  ;  and  scarcely  ever  got  beyond  the 
arrangement  of  a  volute  springing  from  a  stem  fitted  into  another  stem,  and 
encirchng  a  flower. 

It  is  almost  universally  recognized  that  the  white  marble  temples  of  the 
Greeks  were  entirely  covered  with  painted  ornament,  the  coloring  as  well  as 
the  form  being  always  conventional. 

As  the  hot,  rainless  climate  of  Egypt  made  massive  flat  roofs  necessary, 
so  the  rainy  seasons  of  Greece  rendered  sloping  roofs  desirable,  and  from 
their  gables  the  Greeks  eventually  developed  their  beautiful  pediment.  The 
pediment  necessitated  the  frieze  —  aesthetically  more  than  mechanically  —  to 
diminish  its  apparent  weight  to  balance  the  parts,  and  to  strengthen  the  entab- 
lature. The  only  Greek  example  of  a  temple  without  a  pediment  —  the  Pan- 
droseion  at  Athens  —  has  no  frieze  in  its  entablature. 

The  distinctive  ornament  of  the  three  Greek  architectural  orders,  as  they 
are  termed,  is  the  capital.  The  Doric  capital  consists  of  a  round,  flat  cushion, 
called  the  echinus,  and  a  large  square  abacus,  the  lower  diameter  of  the 
echinus  being  that  of  the  pillar,  its  upper  that  of  the  abacus.  The  cushion 
is  called  the  echinus  from  its  being  invariably  decorated  with  that  ornament. 
The  Doric  order  might  well  be  called  the  echinus  order ;  and  the  echinus  is 
accordingly  the  principal  ornament  of  the  period.  Like  the  Egyptian,  the 
Greek  is  distinguished  for  its  broad,  flat  surfaces  :  even  its  curves  are  flat, 
of  a  parabolic  character.  The  Ionic  or  voluted  capital  was  used  in  Asia 
Minor  as  early  as  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century  before  our  era.  The 
acanthus  was  very  little  used  by  the  Greeks,  while  with  the  Romans  it  was 
a  favorite. 

Roman  ornament,  the  last  of  the  ancient  styles,  is  simply  an  exaggeration 
of  the  florid  Greek.  The  Romans  did  not  add  a  single  important  element  to 
Greek  ornament ;  they  were  original  only  in  their  treatment  of  Greek  mate- 
rial. Roman  art  is  accordingly  Greek  art,  and  it  is  probable  that  nearly 
all  the  great  artists  employed  by  the  Romans  were  Greeks.  The  real  great- 
ness of  the  Romans  is  rather  to  be  seen  in  their  palaces,  baths,  theatres, 
aqueducts,  and  other  works  of  public  utility,  than  in  their  temple  architect- 
ure, which,  being  the  expression  of  a  religion  borrowed  from  the  Greeks,  and 
in  which  they  probably  had  little  faith,  exhibits  a  corresponding  want  of  ear- 
nestness and  feeling  for  art. 

In  the  Greek  temple  it  is  everywhere  apparent  that  the  struggle  was  to 
arrive  at  a  perfection  worthy  of  the  gods.    In  the  Roman  temple  the  aim 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


was  self-glorification  ;  from  the  base  of  the  column  to  the  apex  of  the  pedi- 
ment, every  part  is  overloaded  with  ornament,  tending  rather  to  dazzle  by 
quantity  than  to  excite  admiration  by  the  quality  of  the  work.  Greek  tem- 
ples, when  painted,  were  as  much  ornamented  as  those  of  the  Romans,  but 
with  a  very  different  result.  The  ornament  was  arranged  so  that  it  threw  a 
colored  bloom  over  the  whole  structure,  and  in  no  way  disturbed  the  exqui- 
sitely designed  surfaces  which  received  it.  The  Romans  did  not  value  the 
general  proportions  of  the  structure,  nor  the  contours  of  the  moulded  sur- 
faces, for  they  entirely  destroyed  them  by  the  elaborate  surface-modelling  of 
the  carved  ornaments.  These  ornaments  do  not  grow  naturally  from  the 
surface,  but  are  applied  to  it. 

The  fatal  facilities  which  the  Roman  system  of  decoration  gives  for  manu- 
facturing ornament  by  applying  acanthus  leaves  in  any  form  and  in  any 
direction,  is  the  chief  cause  of  the  invasion  of  this  ornament  into  most  mod- 
ern work  ;  for  it  requires  so  little  thought,  and  is  so  completely  a  manufacture, 
that  it  encourages  architects  to  neglect  one  of  their  special  provinces,  and 
the  interior  decorations  of  buildings  have  thus  fallen  into  hands  most 
unfitted  for  their  work. 

The  only  distinct  Roman  order  is  the  composite  ;  it  comprises,  as  its  name 
implies,  all  the  three  Greek  orders,  —  the  echinus,  the  voluted,  and  the 
acanthus  orders.  The  arch  is  a  Roman  feature.  Where  the  Greeks  used 
the  horizontal  entablature,  the  Romans  often  employed  the  arch.  The 
Romans  used  the  mallis,  or  soft  acanthus  ;  the  Greeks  used  the  prickly 
acanthus :  but  the  Roman  ornament  for  capitals  is  commonly  composed  of 
conventional  clusters  of  olive-leaves,  —  a  modification  arising  out  of  the 
necessity  for  strong  effect,  in  massive,  lofty  temples,  —  but  this  leaf  does  not 
occur  otherwise  than  on  the  capitals.  In  the  use  of  the  acanthus-leaf  the 
Romans  showed  but  little  art ;  they  received  it  from  the  Greeks  beautifully 
conventionalized  ;  they  adhered  more  closely  to  the  general  outline,  but  exag- 
gerated the  surface  decoration.  Roman  buildings  are  uniformly  more  mas- 
sive than  Greek,  as  well  as  bolder  in  their  details  ;  their  curves  are  fuller, 
those  of  the  Romans  being  circular,  and  those  of  the  Greeks  elliptical.  The 
free  introduction  of  monsters  and  animals,  such  as  the  sphinx,  the  triton,  and 
the  griffin,  is  likewise  characteristic  of  Greek  and  Roman  ornament ;  they 
occur,  however,  much  more  abundantly  in  the  Roman.  Roman  ornament 
consists  universally  of  a  scroll  growing  out  of  another  scroll,  encircling  a 
flower  or  group  of  leaves.  In  Greek  ornament  the  scrolls  grow  out  of  each 
other  in  the  same  way,  but  are  much  more  attenuated  at  the  point  of  junction. 

The  three  ancient  styles  —  Egyptian,  Greek,  and  Roman  —  are  very  dis- 
tinct. The  Egyptian  is  symbolic,  rich,  and  severe  at  the  same  time  ;  the 
Greek  is  severe  and  beautiful ;  and  the  Roman  rich  and  beautiful,  at  least  in 
its  best  examples.  Greek  taste  steadily  progressed  until  about  the  time  of 
Alexander  ;  from  this  period,  richness  and  abundance  of  ornament  gradually 
supplanted  the  chaster  principles  of  design. 

The  Greeks  were  always  lovers  of  splendor.  This  splendor  was  carried 
out  by  the  Romans  on  a  still  greater  scale,  until  their  boundless  luxury 
induced  an  indiscriminate  and  extravagant  use  of  ornamental  detail. 


Historical  Ornament.  —  Middle  Age  Styles, 


XXVI. 

HISTORICAL  ORNAMENT.  — MIDDLE  AGE  STYLES. 

What  may  be  technically  termed  ancient  ornament  ends  with  the  Roman. 
The  change  of  religion  which  ensued  through  the  adoption  of  Christianity  by 
Constantine  totally  revolutionized  ornamental  as  well  as  all  other  art.  In- 
deed, we  find  that  the  delay  in,  as  well  as  the  flourishing  growth  of  the  arts 
and  sciences,  has  ever  been  dependent  on  those  two  mighty  sources  of  all 
movement  in  the  moral  world,  —  religion  and  the  form  of  government.  Some- 
times one,  sometimes  the  other  determines  the  result ;  but  generally  speaking, 
the  influence  of  both  causes  has  operated  so  uninterruptedly  from  the  very 
birth  of  the  arts  down  to  our  times,  that  their  history  is  almost  inseparably 
connected  with  the  history  of  religious  opinion  and  of  political  revolutions. 
Accordingly,  the  mighty  revolution  which  accompanied  the  downfall  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  and  the  introduction  of  an  entirely  new  religion,  could  not 
fail  to  exercise  an  influence  upon  art  and  its  forms  ;  and  all  the  more,  as 
even  under  the  first  emperors,  a  decline  of  correct  taste  had  become  percep- 
tible. 

Before  we  proceed  to  study  the  art  which  was  the  child  of  the  new  religion, 
we  must  pause  a  moment  to  mourn  over  the  ruin  of  the  old,  caused  by  the 
destructive  zeal  of  the  Christians.  Not  content  with  demolishing  statues, 
paintings,  and  mosaics  of  mythological  import,  they  attacked  other  objects 
of  art ;  everything  pagan  was  for  the  most  part  destroyed.  When  materials 
were  needed  for  building  new  churches  and  basilicas,  heathen  temples, 
and  even  profane  edifices,  were  pulled  down  to  furnish  them.  While  the 
Christians  were  burying  the  most  beautiful  statues  in  fragments  under  the 
floors  of  churches  in  order  that  they  might,  as  it  were,  tread  them  under  foot, 
the  adherents  of  the  old  faith  buried  all  they  could  save,  in  order  to  preserve 
them  from  destruction.  This  accounts  for  statues  being  found  where  no 
temple  or  altar  ever  stood. 

The  fifth  century  was  the  most  fatal  to  the  remains  of  ancient  art  and  civil- 
ization ;  for  then  the  barbarian  hordes  invaded  and  laid  waste  the  Roman 
provinces.  During  that  single  century  Rome  was  five  times  invaded  and 
once  set  on  fire.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  in  such  times  artists  cre- 
ated nothing  new.  Especial  pains  were  taken  to  adorn  the  graves  in  the 
catacombs,  and  we  must  betake  ourselves  to  them  if  we  wish  to  behold  the 
remains  of  art  of  that  period. 
24 


i86 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


The  palm  branch,  so  frequent  upon  grave  slabs,  was  formerly  thought  to 
mark  the  tombs  of  the  martyrs,  but  is  now  known  to  have  been  simply  the 
emblem  of  the  victory  of  Christian  faith,  a  discovery  which  greatly  reduces 
the  number  of  martyrs  supposed  to  have  been  buried  in  the  catacombs. 
The  emblems  upon  these  tombs  are  very  curious  as  showing  the  transition 
from  Pagan  to  Christian  art.  The  sarcophagus  of  the  sister  of  the  Emperor 
Constantine  is  covered  almost  entirely  with  pagan  bas-reliefs  ;  upon  one  end 
of  another  sarcophagus  there  is  a  representation  of  the  heathen  god  Mercury 
carrying  a  goat  upon  his  shoulders,  and  upon  the  other  end  one  of  the  Good 
Shepherd  bearing  the  sheep.  Another  curious  representation  is  of  the  Good 
Shepherd  with  the  Pandean  pipes,  bearing  the  goat  on  his  shoulders  while 
the  sheep  stand  beside  him.  The  cross  did  not  appear  in  art  until  fully  a 
century  after  its  abolition  as  a  means  of  punishment.  All  the  scenes  con- 
nected with  the  crucifixion,  so  common  in  later  art,  are  wholly  unknown  to 
that  of  the  catacombs.  Christ  was  to  those  early  Christians  the  Good  Shep- 
herd, and  not  the  Sacrificial  Lamb. 

Although  in  these  works  we  here  and  there  see  traces  of  the  better  periods 
of  art,  the  majority  of  them  are  weak  in  invention,  coarse  in  execution,  and 
generally  faulty  in  drawing.  Paltry,  and  destitute  of  all  artistic  value  as  are 
the  works  of  these  times,  contemporary  writers  are  lavish  in  the  praises  they 
bestow  upon  them  ;  nor  is  this  to  be  wondered  at ;  for  in  a  time  of  universal 
ignorance,  when  an  acquaintance  with  the  art  of  writing  was  a  rare  accom- 
plishment, the  production  of  a  painting  or  a  piece  of  sculpture,  however  poor 
in  quality,  seemed  a  glorious  performance  ;  and  this  all  the  more  as  in  the 
East,  during  the  first  centuries  of  Christianity,  the  making  of  sacred  images 
and  sculptures  was  strictly  prohibited  by  the  teachings  of  the  church.  In 
the  fifth  century  a  religious  council  decreed  that  in  future  Christ  in  the  human 
form,  and  not  the  lamb,  should  be  depicted  on  the  cross.  The  use  of  cruci- 
fixes in  painting  and  sculpture  commences  from  that  time,  and  in  the  earliest 
one  Christ  always  appears  clothed,  with  a  royal  crown  on  his  head,  and  fas- 
tened with  four  nails  to  the  cross.  The  use  of  three  nails  did  not  arise  till 
later.  Shortly  after,  a  systematic  attack  upon  images  was  begun  by  the  Icon- 
oclasts, which  set  the  Eastern  and  Western  churches  at  variance,  and  led  to 
an  utter  destruction  of  sacred  monuments  throughout  the  East ;  repeated 
edicts  were  issued  against  the  adoration  of  images  ;  holy  figures  in  pictures 
still  extant,  were  caused  to  be  painted  over  with  birds,  flowers,  and  ornamental 
foliage  in  the  Arabian  taste,  while  those  artists  who  engaged  in  the  repre- 
sentation of  sacred  subjects  were  threatened  with  severe  punishments,  and 
even  thrown  into  prison.  But  before  one  hundred  years  had  passed,  the  use 
of  sacred  images  was  revived,  and  spread  so  rapidly  that  each  military  cohort 
carried  with  it  the  image  of  its  saint  in  a  small  chapel  mounted  on  two  wheels. 

Art,  thus  subjected  to  hieratic  caprice,  could  make  but  little  progress. 
In  the  tenth  century  came  the  dawn  of  a  revival,  which  was  not  fully  realized, 
however,  until  the  thirteenth  century.  The  wealth  which  the  cities  of  Italy 
acquired  through  commerce,  and  increased  by  means  of  the  Crusades,  fos- 
tered in  the  citizens  a  love  of  splendor,  and  consequently  a  taste  for  art, 


Historical  Ornament.  —  Middle  Age  Styles. 


187 


which  led  them  to  vie  with  each  other  in  the  munificence  with  which  they 
adorned  their  palaces  and  churches  with  marbles,  works  of  sculpture,  paint- 
ings, and  mosaics.  Notwithstanding  the  degraded  condition  of  the  arts,  the 
fondness  for  beauty  and  embellishment  which  is  inherent  in  man,  extended 
the  practice  of  art  over  every  part  of  Europe  ;  and  we  perceive  its  feeble 
beginnings  in  those  buildings  of  the  period  which  have  survived  to  our  time. 

Christian  art  was  at  first  very  much  under  the  influence  of  Roman  art,  which 
had  already  declined  considerably  ;  this  was  especially  the  case  in  the  west- 
ern part  of  the  empire,  Italy,  Germany,  France,  etc.,  where  it  was  termed 
Latin  or  Romanesque.  The  other  branch  of  Roman  art,  known  as  the 
modern  Greek  or  Byzantine,  originated  in  Constantinople  from  the  more 
Oriental  development  of  the  Roman  style  occasioned  by  the  conquest  of  a 
part  of  Asia  by  the  Romans,  who  found  in  the  East  fresh  elements  to  satisfy 
their  sumptuous  tastes.  During  the  first  and  second  centuries  Christian  works 
of  art  were  limited  to  symools,  never  decorations,  but  as  exhortations  to  faith 
and  piety.  All  Christian  decoration  rests  upon  this  foundation,  the  same 
spirit  of  symbolism  prevailing  throughout  until  the  return  to  the  heathen 
principle  of  beauty,  in  the  period  of  the  Renaissance.  The  early  symbols 
were  the  monogram  of  Christ,  variously  written,  the  lily,  the  cross,  the  ser- 
pent, the  aureole  or  vesica  piscis,  —  an  acrostic  symbol,  the  fish,  from  the 
common  Greek  word  for  fish,  —  the  initials  of  the  following  sentence,  Jesus 
Christ,  of  God,  the  Son,  the  Saviour,  —  and  the  circle  or  nimbus,  the  glory 
around  the  head,  as  the  vesica  is  around  the  entire  body.  These  are  all  very 
important  elements  in  Christian  decoration,  especially  the  nimbus,  which  is 
the  element  of  the  trefoil  and  quatrefoil  and  analogous  forms,  so  common  in 
Byzantine  and  Gothic  art,  —  the  trefoil  having  reference  to  the  Trinity,  and 
the  quatrefoil  to  the  four  evangelists  as  the  witnesses  to  Christ,  as  well  as  to 
the  cross,  at  the  extremities  of  which  we  often  find  the  circle  together  with 
the  circle  or  nimbus  in  the  centre  signifying  the  Lord.  The  circles  at  the 
extremities  which  are  the  nimbi  of  the  evangelists,  often  contain  their  respect- 
ive symbolic  images,  the  angel,  the  lion,  the  ox,  and  the  eagle,  thus  making 
their  signification  palpable.  Why  the  beautiful  and  accomplished  styles  of  the 
ancients  were  discarded  for  such  comparatively  crude  elements  of  ornament, 
needs  no  other  explanation  than  that  they  were  pagan.  Paganism  consisted, 
however,  solely  in  forms,  not  in  colors  ;  and  therefore  as  regarded  colors, 
there  were  no  restrictions.  Ancient  forms  also,  as  paganism  itself  gradually 
disappeared,  were  slowly  admitted  among  the  elements  of  Christian  decora- 
tion ;  and  the  scroll,  under  certain  modifications,  became  eventually  a  very 
prominent  figure  in  Byzantine  ornaments.  Under  a  similar  modification  the 
anthemion  and  every  other  ancient  form  of  ornament  was  gradually  adopted, 
after  a  systematic  exclusion  of  four  or  five  centuries.  All  Byzantine  decora- 
tions, however,  are  strictly  conventional,  a  trefoil  leaf  or  a  lily  form  being  the 
ordinary  foliation  for  a  scroll;  and  every  form,  whether  derived  from  nature  or 
from  earlier  styles  of  art,  being  always  treated  in  a  peculiar  manner.  More 
skill  on  the  whole  was  displayed  in  the  general  effects  than  in  the  details,  and 
owing  to  the  richness  of  material  used,  which  was  characteristic  of  Byzantine 


i88 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


taste,  a  heavy,  gorgeous  style  was  ultimately  developed  out  of  a  rude  symbol- 
ism. The  leading  forms  of  Byzantine  and  Romanesque  architecture  are 
likewise  due  to  the  same  influences,  the  cross,  the  circle,  and  the  dove  being 
everywhere  met  with.  The  details  of  Byzantine  buildings  are  in  a  great 
measure  borrowed  from  ancient  Greek  architecture.  We  have  been  tempted 
in  the  study  of  the  mediaeval  styles  to  overstep  the  bounds  of  simple  ornament, 
as  we  find  such  marked  characteristics  in  mediaeval  architecture.  Thus  the 
basilicas  contain  numerous  columns  of  marble,  Greek  or  Roman  capitals, 
architraves  and  cornices,  which  speak  of  the  Athenian  or  Ephesian  sculptor. 
But  when  available  fragments  became  scarce,  the  Byzantine  artists  were 
compelled  to  originate  works  in  accordance  with  the  massive  forms  of  their 
basilicas.  They  thus  produced  their  own  heavy  capital,  which  resembles  the 
Corinthian  divested  of  its  foliated  ornaments,  and  with  its  cup  pressed  into 
quadrangular  shape.  This  nearly  cubical  mass  received  only  a  few  foliated 
ornaments  in  relief,  or  fantastic  figures  in  place  of  foliated  work,  which  latter 
were  much  imitated  in  Italy,  on  the  Rhine,  in  Normandy,  and  in  England, 
where  they  were  frequently  employed  in  the  eleventh  century.  The  decora- 
tions on  the  Corinthian  entablature  and  cornice  underwent  similar  changes, 
the  moulding  being  replaced  by  a  few  inclined  planes,  embellished  with  sculp- 
tures, paintings,  or  mosaic.  Sculptured  Byzantine  ornamental  work  is  broad 
and  heavy,  frequently  exhibiting  strings  of  pearls,  and  festoons  apparently  set 
with  precious  stones.  The  foliated  work  is  very  boldly  profiled,  the  leaves 
generally  terminating  in  points. 

Eastern  churches  were  generally  of  a  square,  round,  or  polygonal  form. 
The  characteristic  difference  between  the  Byzantine  and  the  Romanesque 
styles,  is  that  the  former  always  had  a  cupola,  whilst  the  latter,  even  in  build- 
ings whose  form  was  round,  had  flat  roofs  of  carpentry.  Byzantine  fa9ades 
were  often  ornamented  in  freestone  and  brick,  used  together,  the  latter  laid 
both  in  horizontal  and  in  vertical  lines,  so  as  to  form  frames  around  panels  of 
freestone.  Great  variety  of  decoration  is  attained  in  this  manner,  enhanced 
by  the  application  of  moulded,  carved,  and  Y-shaped  bricks.  Another  pecu- 
liarity of  this  style  is  that  the  slope  of  the  roof  seldom  appears  in  view :  the 
top  of  the  building  is  generally  a  straight  line  surmounted  by  a  cupola  placed 
over  the  central  rotunda,  and  sometimes  by  smaller  domes  at  the  sides,  which 
in  large  buildings  mark  the  points  of  connection  between  the  vestibule  and 
the  side-aisles. 

The  eleventh  century  was  the  period  of  the  introduction  of  towers  in  the 
construction  of  churches.  The  cathedral  at  Trani  has  probably  the  oldest 
known  tower ;  it  is  very  simple,  and  like  the  towers  of  that  time  generally,  is 
not  so  high  as  those  of  the  subsequent  German  style.  This  cathedral  may 
be  regarded  as  the  connecting  link  between  the  Byzantine  and  Gothic  styles, 
as  it  exhibits  both  round  and  pointed  arches.  The  Byzantine  was  so  widely 
spread,  and  so  thoroughly  identified  with  all  mediaeval  art  after  the  first  few 
centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  that  its  influence  even  in  Italy  did  not  wholly 
decline  before  the  fifteenth  century.  Both  the  Saracenic  and  the  Gothic  pro- 
ceeded from  the  Byzantine  ;  the  Greek  missionaries  carried  its  influence  into 


Historical  Ornament.  —  Middle  Age  Styles.  189 


the  extreme  north  ;  and  while  the  artists  of  Syria  were  accommodating  their 
style  to  Mohammedan  exclusiveness  in  the  south,  the  mysteries  of  Mount 
Athos  were  freely  mixed  up  with  the  fables  of  Scandinavian  mythology  in  the 
colder  regions  of  Europe.  The  Scandinavian  soldiers,  also,  of  the  imperial 
body-guard  at  Constantinople,  made,  on  their  return,  the  talismans  of  Christian 
mythology  almost  as  familiar  in  their  native  homes  as  the  gods  of  their  fore- 
fathers. The  cross  planted  on  the  serpent  is  not  an  uncommon  image  on 
Mount  Athos  ;  and  the  cross  surmounted  by  the  so-called  Runic  knot  is  only 
a  Scandinavian  version  of  the  original  Byzantine  symbol  of  the  redemption,  — 
the  crushed  snake  curling  round  the  stem  of  the  avenging  cross. 

The  buildings,  for  the  most  part  ecclesiastical,  erected  by  the  Lombards  in 
Italy  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries,  are  in  their  main  features  Byzan- 
tine ;  but  for  several  peculiarities  they  have  been  grouped  by  themselves,  and 
constitute  the  monuments  of  the  Lombardic  style.  Their  main  characteristics 
are,  i.  Very  small  windows  with  semicircular  arch.  2.  Half  or  three  fourths 
columns  placed  at  the  entrance,  and  grouped  so  as  to  form  perspective  gate- 
ways. The  columns  of  the  two  sides  are  connected  above  by  semicircular 
arches  ;  their  bases,  shafts,  and  capitals  are  decorated  with  rude,  fgliated 
work,  or  symbolic  figures,  while  their  Byzantine  capitals  in  a  measure 
approach  the  Corinthian.  The  columns  of  the  interior  supporting  the  arches 
generally  have  rude  cubic  capitals.  3.  The  rude  sculptures  frequently  sat- 
irize the  vices  of  the  priesthood.  4.  Festoons,  wrought  in  stone,  appear 
under  the  main  cornices.  5.  The  spires  on  the  towers  are  invariably  pyram- 
idal. 

The  Saracenic,  or  Moorish,  as  the  development  of  the  same  style  was 
called  in  Spain,  proceeded  from  the  Byzantine,  but  was  greatly  modified  by 
the  stringent  Mohammedan  law,  which  forbade  any  imitation  of  living  things, 
vegetable  or  animal,  in  decoration.  Such  conditions  led,  of  course,  to  a  very 
individual  style  of  decoration,  for  vegetable  forms  were  now  excluded  from 
ornament  for  the  first  time.  By  the  eighth  century,  however,  to  which  the 
rich  works  of  the  Saracens  belong,  the  Byzantine  Greeks  who  were  pressed 
into  the  service  of  the  Arabian  caliphs  and  generals,  were  already  sufficiently 
skilful  to  make  light  of  such  exclusions,  and  the  exertion  of  ingenuity  to 
which  they  were  compelled  gave  rise,  perhaps,  to  a  more  beautiful  simply 
ornamental  style  than  any  that  had  preceded  it,  as  there  was  no  longer  any 
division  of  the  artistic  mind  between  meaning  and  effect.  Symbolic  figures, 
which  had  hitherto  engrossed  so  much  of  the  artist's  attention,  were  now 
excluded,  but  the  mere  conventional  ornamental  symbolism,  and  the  ordinary 
forms  borrowed  from  the  classic  period  and  geometry,  left  the  artist  an 
abundant  field,  which  was  further  enriched  by  the  peculiarly  Saracenic  custom 
of  making  inscriptive  designs.  The  curves  or  angles  or  interlacings  of  the 
characters  were  now  made  to  bear  the  chief  burden  of  a  design  ;  the  curves, 
however,  very  naturally  fell  into  the  standard  forms  and  floral  shapes,  and 
the  lines  and  angles  were  soon  developed  into  a  very  characteristic  species 
of  tracery  or  interlaced  strap-work,  very  agreeably  diversified  by  the  orna- 
mental use  of  inscriptions.    The  Saracenic  was  the  period  of  gorgeous 


190 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


diapers  ;  but  like  the  Byzantine  it  was  more  remarkable  for  its  general  effects, 
than  for  any  peculiar  merit  of  detail  or  combinations  of  details.  The  designs 
are  made  up  of  an  infinite  number  of  minute  contrasts  of  light  and  shade 
and  color,  something  like  a  formal  flower-garden,  but  wanting  in  the  grandeur 
and  simplicity  of  natural  scenery.  No  other  details  are  so  applicable  for 
mere  fillings  as  the  Saracenic,  and  hence  we  find  them  constantly  recurring 
in  Renaissance  designs. 

Among  the  prominent  features  in  Saracenic  architecture  are,  i.  The  horse- 
shoe-shaped arches,  which  generally  occur  alone,  but  sometimes  in  con- 
nection with  semicircular  arches,  and  even  surmounted  by  them  in  a  few 
buildings.  The  latter  arrangement  is  of  exquisite  effect,  being  exceedingly 
picturesque,  and  it  is  remarkable  that  it  has  never  been  imitated  in  other 
styles  of  building.  2.  The  Moorish  columns,  employed  in  great  numbers, 
are  remarkably  slender.  Their  capitals  are  sometimes  antique,  but  generally 
of  a  peculiar  shape,  best  described  as  that  of  two  truncated  pyramids  placed 
base  to  base,  the  upper  one  being  inverted  like  an  hour-glass.  3.  The  walls 
and  niches  are  richly  inlaid  with  peculiar  ornaments  and  sentences  from  the 
Koran',  sometimes  in  stucco,  and  frequently  even  in  precious  stones.  The 
ornaments  are  painted  with  gaudy  colors,  chiefly  purple,  azure,  and  gold. 
4.  The  floors  are  of  colored  marble,  laid  in  elaborate  patterns,  5.  The 
vaults  and  arches  frequently  exhibit  lattice-work,  through  which  the  buildings 
are  lighted.  6.  The  entablature,  consisting  of  but  few'  members,  always 
projects  boldly.  7.  The  height  of  the  buildings  is  generally  limited,  though 
they  cover  extensive  areas.  8.  The  cupolas,  which  frequently  occur,  are 
mostly  bulbiform. 

As  the  Norman  style  was  originally  developed  in  Sicily,  it  contains  many- 
Saracenic  features,  of  which  the  pointed  arch  and  the  zigzag  are  the  most 
characteristic.  The  original  Norman  was  not  national,  but  simply  Roman- 
esque or  Byzantine. 

The  last  great  middle-age  style,  the  Gothic,  grew  out  of  the  Byzantine,  like 
the  Saracenic  ;  it  flourished  chiefly  on  the  Rhine,  in  the  north  of  France, 
and  in  England.  Authorities  differ  as  to  the  name  this  style  shouW  receive, 
Goethe  proposed  that  it  should  be  called  German,  for  it  originated  in  Ger- 
many, and  has  but  few  characteristics  in  common  with  the  older  styles, 
least  of  all  with  the  real  Gothic  style,  the  name  given  to  that  which  originated 
in  Italy  during  the  supremacy  of  the  Goths  in  that  country  under  Theodoric. 
Only  a  limited  number  of  these  buildings  have  been  preserved  :  they  all 
show  that  this  style  equally  approaches  the  ancient  Roman  and  the  Roman- 
esque ;  exclusive  application  is  made  of  the  semicircular  arch  and  semi- 
cylindrical  vault.  But  setting  aside  this  distinction,  we  will  agree,  with 
Wornum,  to  give  the  name  of  "Gothic"  to  the  pointed-arch  style,  the  oldest 
monuments  of  which  date  from  the  tenth  century,  and  are  found  in  Germany; 
it  was  more  generally  developed  in  the  thirteenth  century,  was  perfected  in 
the  fourteenth,  and  in  the  sixteenth  became  extinct.  In  its  general  forms., 
the  Gothic  is  essentially  a  pointed  and  geometrical  style,  though  all  the 
symbolic  elements  of  the  Byzantine  are  preserved  in  it ;  its  details  appear  to 


Historical  Ornament.  —  Middle  Jige  Styles.  191 


be  an  infinite  repetition  of  the  greater  architectural  features  by  which  it  is 
distinguished,  as  the  spire  in  place  of  the  dome,  and  the  pointed  in  the  place 
of  the  round  arch.  It  has  the  pointed  arch,  however,  in  common  with  the 
Saracenic.  As  an  ornamental  style  it  is  an  excessive  elaboration  of  the 
pointed  and  geometric  element,  vertical  and  diagonal  lines  prevaiHng  over 
the  others.  It  is  further  peculiar  in  its  combinations  of  details  :  at  first  the 
conventional  and  symbolic  prevail,  and  afterwards  these  are  combined  with 
the  elaboration  of  natural  objects  proper  to  its  locahties.  We  find  Gothic 
examples  not  only  the  traditional  conventional  types,  but  also,  in  the  later 
periods,  exact  imitations  of  the  plants  and  flowers  growing  in  the  neighbor- 
hood mixed  with  them.  This  is  a  great  feature,  but  still  always  secondary  to 
the  elaboration  of  geometrical  tracery,  —  vesicas,  trefoils,  quatrefoils,  etc. 
with  many  other  geometrical  combinations,  —  which  always  remains  the  main 
characteristic  of  the  style,  whether  the  so-called  early  English,  the  decorated 
or  the  perpendicular,  French  or  German.  In  ornament,  therefore,  as  in 
architecture,  it  is  the  geometrical  tracery  which  stamps  a  design  with  a 
Gothic  character ;  mixed  with  natural  flowers  only,  it  is  still  Gothic ;  but  the 
example  is  more  characteristic  when  it  contains  also  the  historic  ornaments 
of  the  style,  as  the  Tudor  flower,  the  fleur-de-lis,  the  crocket,  trefoil,  vine, 
scroll,  and  other  familiar  details.  The  Gothic  scroll  always  preserves  the 
character  of  its  early  Byzantine  type,  namely,  that  of  a  foliated  serpentine 
rather  than  a  succession  of  spirals.  Gothic  capitals  are  of  the  most  varied 
forms  ;  their  decorations  are  either  sculptured  or  painted,  or  both.  Smooth 
capitals  are  mostly  painted ;  there  are  even  instances  on  record  where  very 
excellent  sculpture  in  capitals  was  filled  up  with  mortar  and  smoothed  over 
in  order  to  make  a  surface  for  painted  ornament.  Not  unfrequently  most 
exquisite  sculptural  work  has  been  discovered  in  capitals  that  were  thus 
plastered  up.  The  sculptures  of  this  period  either  represent  human  figures 
or  subjects  from  the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms,  or  various  human 
pursuits.  Entire  historical  representations  are  also  sometimes  met  with  on 
capitals,  or  clerical  processions  or  symbolic  groups,  whose  import  it  is  fre- 
quently difficult  to  interpret. 

The  improvement  of  windows  in  the  pointed  style  was  gradual :  at  first 
they  were  small  and  simple  ;  then  coupled  ;  next  coupled  with  a  perforated 
foil  rosette  between  their  heads  ;  the  desire  for  greater  ornament  with  the 
windows  became  more  and  more  complicated,  and  designing  patterns  for  win- 
dows became  a  special  art,  —  the  art  of  tracery.  One  centre  mullion  not  being 
found  sufiicient  to  admit  of  many  variations  of  design,  three,  five,  and  even 
seven  were  introduced.  Rosette  windows  occur  as  late  as  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury ;  but  their  strictly  circular  form  was  gradually  abandoned  for  convex- 
sided  triangles  or  polygons  with  strictly  geometrical  divisions.  Such  windows 
of  the  purest  taste  are  very  numerous  in  Germany. 

The  characteristic  of  the  pointed-arch  Gothic  church  is  the  bell-tower  or 
spire.  Its  lower  portion  is  usually  a  square  building,  or  tower  proper, 
which  at  a  certain  height  passes  into  a  circular  or  polygonal  form,  and  then 
tapers  to  a  point  to  form  a  spire  or  steeple.    The  bells  are  usually  hung  in 


192  'The  Antefix  Papers. 

the  upper  part  of  the  tower,  below  the  pyramidion,  and  their  position  is 
marked  on  the  exterior  by  the  belfry  window  or  other  aperture  for  the  escape 
of  the  sound. 

In  the  fifteenth  century,  the  tasteful  distribution  of  ornaments  over  the 
entire  building  was  discontinued  to  make  room  for  a  meretricious  decoration 
of  single  parts.  Ornaments  ceased  to  be  purely  constructive,  and  therefore 
true.    Hence  it  is  that  from  this  time  we  begin  to  trace  a  decline. 


Historical  Ornament. 


193 


XXVII. 

HISTORICAL  ORNAMENT. 

(  Continued.) 

The  history  of  Byzantine  ornament  begins  when  Constantine  established 
his  new  seat  of  government  on  the  shores  of  the  Bosphorus,  A.  D.  330. 
Byzantine  is  derived  from  Byzantium,  the  ancient  name  of  Constantinople. 

In  the  new  capital,  churches,  palaces,  and  private  dwellings,  triumphal 
arches  and  public  baths,  rapidly  arose  in  great  number  and  magnificence  ;  and 
the  Rome  of  the  East,  under  the  auspices  of  the  renowned  emperor,  soon 
rivalled  the  past  splendors  of  that  other  imperial  city,  now  fast  falling  into 
ruin  on  the  banks  of  the  Tiber. 

To  get  an  idea  of  pure  Byzantine  ornament,  the  attention  of  the  investigator 
must  first  be  turned  to  the  wonderful  Mosque  of  St.  Sophia  at  Constantinople, 
rebuilt  by  Justinian  on  the  site  of  a  church  which  had  been  built  and  burned 
during  the  reign  of  Constantine. 

The  Cathedral  of  St.  Sophia  was  erected  500  years  after  the  birth  of  Christ, 
under  the  supervision  of  Justinian  and  two  famous  architects,  Isidorus  of 
Miletus  and  Anthemius  of  Tralles.  To  enrich  it,  Palmyra,  Ephesus,  and 
Pegamus  were  despoiled,  and  very  many  cities  of  renown  utterly  stripped  of 
their  art  treasures.  The  two  architects  had  a  hundred  master-builders  under 
them,  and  each  one  of  these  hundred  workmen,  who  were  paid  stone  by  stone, 
extra  pay  for  extra  work.  The  expense  of  the  structure  was  so  enormous, 
that  all  the  wealth  Justinian  could  apply  to  it,  and  all  the  free  gifts  that  flowed 
in  upon  him  for  it,  were  not  sufficient  without  increased  taxation,  tributes  from 
the  provinces,  and  spoils  from  conquered  nations,  all  of  which  were  required 
to  fill  the  public  treasury  with  the  means  to  finish  it. 

Byzantine  art  reached  its  climax  with  the  completion  of  St.  Sophia,  and  when 
Justinian  made  his  famous  declaration,  "  Solomon,  I  have  outdone  thee  ! " 
the  whole  civilized  world  about  him  believed  it.  In  fact,  the  edifice  is  regarded 
to  this  day,  by  many  eminent  architects,  as  the  greatest  marvel  of  building 
construction  in  existence. 

Before  the  transfer  of  the  Roman  Empire  to  Byzantium  all  the  arts  there 
were  either  in  a  state  of  decline  or  process  of  transformation,  and  Constantine 
soon  found  himself  under  the  necessity  of  employing  artists  and  workmen  of 

25 


194  Antefix  Papers, 


many  schools.  Thus  it  is  that  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  Byzantine 
ornament  are  outgrowths  of  other  styles. 

Much  of  the  decoration  known  as  Byzantine  is  easily  traced  to  the  temples 
and  churches  of  Asia  Minor.  Constantine  continually  employed  the  artists 
of  Rome,  Syria,  and  Persia  in  the  decoration  of  his  Eastern  capital,  and  there 
speedily  wrought  a  change  in  the  traditional  Roman  styles  of  ornament. 

The  symbolism  of  the  early  Christians  was  largely  adopted  by  the  work- 
men under  Constantine.  Thus  the  cross,  emblem  of  eternal  life  among 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  became  the  favorite  and  most  prominent  symbol. 
Very  many  of  the  emblems  used  by  pagan  nations  were  appropriated  after 
a  change  of  meaning  had  been  given  to  them.  That  which  would  have 
been  deemed  offensive,  in  one  sense,  became  revered  and  welcomed  through  a 
different  interpretation.  The  Bacchanalian  subjects  of  the  ancients  became 
typical  of  the  vineyard  of  faith,  sometimes  of  the  Last  Supper ;  and  the  ear  of 
corn,  standing  for  the  favor  of  the  gods  among  the  pagans,  became  the  symbol 
of  plenty  in  Byzantine  decoration.  The  palm-branch,  indicative  of  pagan 
victories,  typified  Christian  triumphs  in  the  church.  The  dove  of  Venus 
became  the  Holy  Spirit ;  Isis,  mother  of  the  Egyptian  Horus,  "  Our  Blessed 
Lady";  and  the  stag  of  Diana,  the  soul  thirsting  for  living  waters.  The  eagle 
and  the  lion,  attributes  of  the  Roman  gods,  became  symbols,  of  the  two 
evangelists,  St.  Jerome  and  St.  John,  while  the  phcenix,  the  pelican,  the  crown, 
the  fish,  the  griffin,  the  lamb,  the  peacock,  the  anchor,  the  monogram,  the  lyre, 
the  standard,  and  many  other  pagan  emblems,  became  Christian  under  the 
Christian  decorators. 

The  great  division  of  the  Christians  into  two  opposite  and  hostile  parties, 
the  Greek  Church  and  the  Latin  Church,  was  mainly  brought  about  by  the 
refusal  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome  to  obey  the  orders  of  the  Patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople in  regard  to  the  destruction  of  all  pagan  sculptures  and  pictures 
not  adopted  by  the  Eastern  Church. 

Ttirkish  Ornament.  —  Although  the  Turks  and  the  Arabians  have  the  same 
religion,  yet,  being  of  different  national  origin,  their  art  representations  are, 
as  might  be  expected,  somewhat  different.  The  architecture  of  the  Turks,  as 
seen  at  Constantinople,  is  mainly  based  upon  that  of  the  early  Byzantine  mon- 
uments, with  the  exception  of  their  modern  edifices,  which  are  designed  in  the 
most  European  style.  Their  system  of  ornamentation  is  of  a  mixed  character, 
—  Arabian  and  Persian  floral  ornaments  being  found  side  by  side  with 
debased  Roman  and  Renaissance  details.  The  art  instinct  of  the  Turks  is 
quite  inferior  to  that  of  the  East  Indians.  The  only  good  examples  we  have 
of  Turkish  ornamentation  is  to  be  seen  in  Turkey  carpets,  and  these  are 
chiefly  executed  in  Asia  Minor  and  most  probably  not  by  the  Turks.  The 
designs  are  thoroughly  Arabic. 

Moresque  or  Moorish  Ornament.  —  The  ornamental  art  of  the  Moors,  who 
established  the  seat  of  their  power  in  Spain  during  the  eighth  century,  furnishes 
us  with  another  illustration  of  the  results  produced  by  corresponding  influences 
f  religious  faith,  and  diversities  of  national  character.  The  main  differences 
Detween  the  Arabian  and  Moorish  edifices  consist  in  that  the  former  are  rather 


Historical  Ornament, 


distinguished  for  their  grandeur,  the  latter  for  their  refinement  and  elegance. 
In  ornamentation  the  Moors  were  unsurpassed,  and  in  it  they  carried  out  the 
principles  of  true  art  even  more  than  the  Greeks. 

Arabian  and  Moorish  art  were  alike  wanting  in  symbolism,  but  the  Moors 
compensated  for  this  want  by  the  beauty  of  their  ornamental  written  inscrip- 
tions and  the  nobleness  of  the  sentiments  expressed  by  them.  To  the  artist 
these  inscriptions  furnished  the  most  exquisite  lessons  in  art ;  to  the  people  they 
proclaimed  the  might,  majesty,  and  good  deeds  of  the  king ;  and  to  the  king 
they  never  ceased  to  declare  that  there  was  none  powerful  but  God,  that  He 
alone  was  conqueror,  and  that  to  Him  alone  was  ever  due  praise  and  glory. 
A  law  of  the  Mohammedan  religion  forbade  the  representation  of  animals  or 
of  the  human  figure. 

In  the  best  specimens  of  Moorish  architecture  decoration  always  arises 
naturally  from  construction  ;  and  although  every  part  of  the  surface  may 
be  decorated,  there  is  never  a  useless  or  a  superfluous  ornament.  All  lines 
grow  out  of  one  another  in  natural  undulations,  and  every  ornament  can  be 
traced  to  its  branch  or  root.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  an  ornament  jotted 
down  merely  to  fill  a  space,  without  any  other  reason  for  its  existence. 

The  best  Moorish  ornamentation  is  found  in  the  Alhambra,  a  celebrated 
palace  of  the  Moorish  kings,  at  Granada,  in  Spain.  This  immense  and  justly 
famous  structure,  of  rather  forbidding  exterior,  but  gorgeous  within  almost  be- 
yond description,  was  erected  in  the  thirteenth  century,  and  much  of  it  remains 
perfect  to  the  present  day.  It  has  been  said  by  a  competent  judge  that  "  every 
principle  which  we  can  derive  from  the  study  of  the  ornamental  art  of  any  other 
people  is  not  only  ever  present  here,  but  was  more  universally  and  truly  obeyed 
by  the  Moors  than  by  any  other  people."  And  further,  that  "  we  find  in  the 
Alhambra,  the  speaking  art  of  the  Egyptians,  the  natural  grace  and  refine- 
ment of  the  Greeks,  and  the  geometrical  combinations  of  the  Romans,  the 
Byzantines,  and  the  Arabs."  The  walls  of  the  Alhambra  were  covered  with 
a  profusion  of  ornamentation,  which  had  the  appearance  of  a  congeyes  of 
paintings,  incrustations,  mosaics,  gilding,  and  foliage,  and  nothing  could  be 
more  splendid  and  brilliant  than  the  effects  that  resulted  from  their  combina- 
tions. The  mode  of  piercing  the  domes  for  light,  by  means  of  star-like 
openings,  produced  an  almost  magical  effect. 

Persian  Orna7nent.  —  The  Mohammedan  architecture  of  Persia,  and  Per- 
sian ornamentation,  are  alike  mixed  in  style,  and  are  far  inferior  to  the  Arabian 
as  exhibited  in  the  buildings  at  Cairo.  The  Persians,  unlike  the  Arabs  and 
the  Moors,  mixed  up  the  forms  of  natural  flowers  and  animal  life  with  con- 
ventional ornament. 

East  Indian  Ornament.  —  Numerous  manufactures  calculated  to  give  a 
high  idea  of  the  ingenuity  and  taste  of  the  people  of  British  India,  were  shown 
at  the  Great  Exhibition  of  the  Industry  of  All  Nations,  in  London,  in  185 1. 
Among  these  were  various  articles  in  agate  from  Bombay,  mirrors  from  Lahore, 
marble  chairs  from  Ajmeer,  embroidered  shawls,  scarfs,  etc.,  from  Cashmere, 
carpets  from  Bangalore,  and  a  variety  of  articles  in  iron  inlaid  with  silver.  In 
the  application  of  art  to  manufactures  the  East  Indians  exhibit  great  unity 


196 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


of  design,  skill,  and  judgment,  combined  with  great  elegance  and  refine- 
ment in  execution.  In  these  repects  they  seem  far  to  surpass  the 
Europeans,  who,  says  Mr.  Owen  Jones,  "  in  a  fruitless  struggle  after  novelty, 
irrespective  of  fitness,  base  their  designs  upon  a  system  of  copying  and  mis- 
applying the  received  forms  of  beauty  of  every  by-gone  style  of  art."  All 
the  laws  of  the  distribution  of  form  which  are  observed  in  the  Arabian  and 
Moresque  ornaments  are  equally  to  be  found  in  the  productions  of  India, 
while  the  coloring  of  the  latter  is  said  to  be  so  perfectly  harmonized  that  it  is 
impossible  to  find  a  discord.  This,  of  course,  refers  to  the  selected  articles 
placed  on  exhibition  in  1851. 

Hindoo  Ornament.  —  We  have  but  little  reliable  information  about  the 
ancient  or  Hindoo  architecture  of  India  ;  yet  we  know  this  much,  —  that  the 
Hindoos  had  definite  rules  of  architectural  proportion  and  symmetry.  One  of 
their  ancient  precepts,  quoted  by  a  modern  writer,  says,  "  Woe  to  them  who 
dwell  in  a  house  not  built  according  to  the  proportions  of  symmetry  !  In 
building  an  edifice,  therefore,  let  all  its  parts,  from  the  basement  to  the  roof, 
be  duly  considered." 

The  architectural  features  of  Hindoo  buildings  consist  chiefly  of  mouldings 
heaped  up  one  over  the  other.  There  is  very  little  marked  character  in  their 
ornaments,  which  are  never  elaborately  profuse,  and  which  show  both  an 
Egyptian  and  a  Grecian  influence. 

Chinese  Ornament.  —  Notwithstanding  the  great  antiquity  of  Chinese  civ- 
ilization, and  the  perfection  reached  in  their  manufacturing  processes,  ages 
before  our  time,  the  Chinese  do  not  appear  to  have  made  much  advance  in  the 
fine  arts.  They  show  very  little  appreciation  of  pure  form,  beyond  geometri- 
cal patterns  ;  but  they  possess  the  happy  instinct  of  harmonizing  colors. 
Their  decoration  is  of  a  very  primitive  kind.  The  Chinese  are  totally  unim- 
aginative, and  their  ornamentation  is  a  very  faithful  expression  of  the  natural 
characteristic  of  this  peculiar  people,  —  oddness. 

Celiac  Ornament.  —  The  Celts,  the  early  inhabitants  of  the  British  Isles, 
had  a  style  of  ornamentation  peculiarly  their  own,  and  singularly  at 
variance  with  anything  to  be  found  in  any  other  part  of  the  world. 
Celtic  ornament  was  doubtless  of  independent  origin,  but  it  everywhere  bears 
the  impress  received  by  the  early  introduction  of  Christianity  into  the  islands. 

The  chief  peculiarities  of  Celtic  ornament  consist,  first,  in  the  entire 
absence  of  foliage  or  other  vegetable  ornament ;  and  secondly,  in  the  extreme 
intricacy  and  excessive  minuteness  and  elaboration  of  the  various  patterns, 
mostly  geometrical,  consisting  of  interlaced  ribbon-work ;  diagonal,  straight, 
or  spiral  hnes  ;  and  strange,  monstrous  animals  or  birds,  with  their  tail- 
feathers,  top-knots,  and  tongues  prolonged  into  long  interlacing  ribbons,  which 
are  intertwined  in  almost  endless  forms,  and  in  the  most  fantastic  manner. 
Celtic  manuscripts  of  the  Gospels  were  often  ornamented  with  a  great  pro- 
fusion of  these  intricate  designs. 

What  is  called  Celtic  ornamentation  was  practised  throughout  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  from  the  fourth  or  fifth  to  the  tenth  or  eleventh  centuries. 
There  was  a  later  Anglo-Saxon  ornamentation,  equally  elaborate,  employed 
in  the  decoration  of  manuscripts  of  the  Gospels  and  other  holy  writings  ;  but 


Historical  Ornament 


197 


here  leaves,  stems,  birds,  etc.,  were  introduced,  and  interwoven  with  gold 
bars,  circles,  squares,  lozenges,  quatrefoils,  etc. 

Mediceval  or  Gothic  Ornainent.  —  The  high-pitched  gable  and  the  pointed 
arch,  with  towers,  columns,  and  capitals,  of  consequently  slender  proportions, 
are  the  leading  characteristics  of  mediaeval  or  Gothic  architecture,  which 
came  into  general  use  in  Europe  in  the  thirteenth  century.  Mediaeval  Gothic 
art,  like  the  Egyptian,  was  symbolic,  deriving  its  types  from  the  prevailing 
religious  ideas  of  the  period.  Thus  the  churches  and  the  cathedrals  of  the 
Middle  Ages  were  built  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  —  the  sign  and  symbol  of  the 
Christian  faith.  The  numbers  three,  five,  and  seven,  denoting  the  Trinity, 
the  five  traditional  wounds  of  the  Saviour,  and  the  seven  Sacraments,  were 
preserved  as  emblematical  in  the  nave  and  two  aisles,  in  the  trefoiled  arches 
and  windows,  in  the  foils  of  the  tracery,  and  in  the  seven  leaflets  of  the 
sculptured  foliage  ;  while  the  narrow-pointed  arches  and  the  numerous 
finger-like  pinnacles  rising  above  the  gloom  of  the  dimly-lighted  place  of 
worship,  symbolized  the  faith  which  pointed  upward  from  the  trials  of 
earth  to  the  happy  homes  of  the  redeemed.  The  transition  from  the 
Romanesque  (later  Roman)  or  rounded  style  to  the  pointed,  is  easily  traced 
in  numerous  buildings  where  the  two  styles  are  intermingled  ;  but  the 
passage  from  Romanesque  ornament  to  Gothic  is  not  so  clear.  In  the  latter, 
new  combinations  of  ornaments  and  tracery  suddenly  arise.  The  piercings 
for  windows  become  clustered  in  groups,  soon  to  be  moulded  into  a  network 
of  enveloping  tracery ;  the  acanthus  leaf  disappears  ;  in  the  capitals  of 
columns  of  pure  Gothic  style,  the  ornament  springs  directly  from  the  shaft, 
which,  above  the  necking,  is  split  into  a  series  of  stems,  each  terminating  in 
a  conventional  flower,  the  whole  being  quite  analogous  to  the  Egyptian  mode 
of  decorating  the  capital. 

In  the  interior  of  the  early  Gothic  buildings,  every  moulding  had  that  color 
best  adapted  to  develop  its  form  ;  and  from  the  floor  to  the  roof  there  was  not 
an  inch  of  space  without  its  appropriate  ornament,  the  whole  producing  an  effect 
grand  almost  beyond  description.  But  so  suddenly  did  this  profuse  style 
of  ornament  attain  its  perfection,  that  it  almost  immediately  began  to  decline. 
What  is  called  "ornamental  illumination,"  that  is,  the  decoration  of  writing 
by  means  of  colors,  and  especially  the  decoration  of  the  initial  letters  in 
pages  of  manuscript,  attained  a  high  degree  of  perfection  under  the  Gothic 
influence. 

Renaissance  Ornament.  —  The  fact  that  the  soil  of  Italy  was  so  covered 
with  the  remains  of  Roman  greatness  that  it  was  impossible  for  the  Italians 
to  forget  them,  however  they  might  neglect  the  lessons  they  were  calculated 
to  teach,  was  probably  the  reason  why  Gothic  art  took  but  little  root  in  Italy, 
where  it  was  ever  regarded  as  of  barbarian  origin.  When,  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  classical  learning  revived  in  Italy,  and  the  art  of  printing  dissemi- 
nated literary  treasures,  a  taste  for  classic  art  revived  also.  The  style  of  orna- 
mentation to  which  it  gave  rise,  having  been  formed  upon  classic  models,  was 
called  the  Renaissance  style,  and  the  period  of  its  glory  the  Restoration  or 
Renaissance  period. 

A  combination  of  architecture  and  decorative  sculpture  was  a  distinguishing 


198 


2 he  Aritefix  Papers. 


feature  of  the  Renaissance  style.  Figures,  foliage,  and  conventional  orna- 
ments were  so  happily  blended  with  mouldings  and  other  structural  forms, 
as  to  convey  the  idea  that  the  whole  had  sprung  to  life  in  one  perfect  form,  in 
the  mind  of  the  artist  by  whom  the  work  was  executed.  To  Raphael  (early  in 
the  sixteenth  century),  both  sculptor  and  painter,  we  owe  the  most  splendid 
specimens  of  the  Arabesque  style,  which  he  dignified  and  left  complete. 
Arabesques  lose  their  character  when  applied  to  large  objects  ;  neither  are 
they  appropriate  where  gravity  of  style  is  required. 

All  the  great  painters  of  Italy  were  ornamental  sculptors  also.  Their 
sculptured  ornaments  were  ingeniously  arranged  on  different  planes,  instead 
of  on  one  uniform  flat  surface,  so  as  best  to  show  the  diversities  of  light  and 
shade.  Much  of  the  splendid  painting  done  by  the  Italian  masters,  from 
Giotto  to  Raphael,  —  from  the  year  1290  to  1520,  —  was  mural  decoration, 
now  generally  called  fresco. 

Elizabethan  Ornament.  —  The  revival  of  art  in  Italy  soon  spread  over 
France  and  Gei-many,  and  about  the  year  1520  extended  into  England,  where 
it  soon  triumphed  over  the  late  Gothic  style.  The  true  Elizabethan  period 
of  art  embraced  only  about  a  century.  It  is  simply  a  modification  of  foreign 
models,  and  has  little  claim  to  originality. 

The  characteristics  of  Elizabethan  ornament  may  be  described  as  consist- 
ing chiefly  of  a  grotesque  and  complicated  variety  of  pierced  scroll-work,  with 
curled  edges  ;  interlaced  bands,  sometimes  arranged  geometrically,  but 
generally  flowing  and  capricious  ;  curved  and  broken  outlines ;  festoons, 
fruit,  and  drapery,  interspersed  with  roughly-executed  figures  of  human 
beings,  grotesque  monsters,  and  animals,  with  here  and  there  large  and 
flowing  designs  of  natural  branch  and  leaf  ornament ;  rustic  ball  and  diamond 
work ;  panelled  compartments,  often  filled  with  foliage  or  coats  of  arms,  etc. 
etc.,  —  the  whole  founded  on  exaggerated  models  of  the  early  Renaissance 
school.  By  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  more  marked  charac- 
teristics of  the  Elizabethan  style  had  completely  died  out. 

Concerning  modern  ornamental  art  little  can  be  said  in  this  lecture,  because 
the  subject  requires  a  very  extensive  knowledge  of  all  the  ornamentation  of 
any  value  that  has  been  done  since  the  dechne  of  Elizabethan  decoration. 
One  thing,  however,  of  very  great  importance,  should  be  noticed.  It  is  this  : 
Modern  design,  as  a  whole,  is  almost  entirely  an  emasculated  revival  of  forms, 
—  the  patching  up,  so  to  speak,  of  the  artistic  inventions  of  centuries,  without 
any  regard  to  the  subtle  laws  discovered  and  applied  by  ancient  designers. 
Harmony,  fitness,  and  adaptation  do  not  seem  to  appear  as  motive  powers  in 
mociern  ornamentation.  Go  where  we  may,  we  are  almost  certain  to  discover 
lack  of  law,  levity  of  choice,  or  paucity  of  thought.  Beauty  and  utility  are 
rarely  found  in  the  things  exposed  for  sale,  or  in  those  offered  to  our  sight 
by  decorators.  Perhaps  the  main  cause  of  this  falling  away  from  the  good 
and  true  in  design,  is  the  popular  demand  for  those  things  that  can  be  quickly 
disposed  of,  without  the  least  regard  to  the  great  need  in  human  nature  of 
intellectual  rest  and  perpetual  joy.  The  cure  for  this  state  of  things  is  sound 
art  education  for  the  people  at  large. 


Historic  Schools  of  Painting,  199 


XXVIIL 

HISTORIC  SCHOOLS  OF  PAINTING  DOWN  TO 
THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

The  history  of  ancient  art  in  all  nations  or  countries  seems  to  be  a  record 
of  the  rise  and  fall  of  their  different  forms  of  religion.  The  arts  of  India, 
Asia,  Africa,  Greece,  Italy,  and  Spain  have  been  controlled  by,  and  were  in  a 
great  measure  dependent  upon,  the  respective  religions  of  those  countries  ; 
and  their  degree  of  perfection  seems  to  have  been  governed  by  the  relative 
social  position  of  artists  in  those  countries  and  the  respect  in  which  they  were 
held.  In  Greece,  where  religion  was  held  in  the  highest  esteem,  art  reached 
its  greatest  degree  of  excellence. 

Judging  from  the  remains  of  art  in  India,  sculpture  seems  to  have  been 
pre-eminent  among  the  arts  —  at  least,  we  possess  much  better  examples  of  it, 
owing  perhaps  to  its  greater  durability  ;  still  there  are  a  few  remains  of 
ancient  painting  extant  in  India.  Indian  art  was,  like  that  of  all  Eastern 
nations,  purely  symbolical  and  hieroglyphic,  showing  no  knowledge  of  per- 
spective or  chiaro-oscuro. 

Two  periods  are  assigned  to  it,  —  the  Braminical  and  the  Buddhist,  —  to 
which  all  existing  remains  belong.  The  old  Bramins,  like  the  hierarchy  of 
Egypt,  held  the  arts  under  their  control,  and  applied  them  essentially  to  reli- 
gious purposes.  In  the  neighborhood  of  the  Ganges  and  the  coasts  ol 
Malabar,  painting  has  existed  from  a  very  remote  period.  The  most  impor- 
tant early  examples  of  Indian  painting  are  executed  with  a  hair  pencil  in 
water  colors,  upon  chalk  grounds,  and  are  remarkably  clear  and  bright ;  but 
as  regards  form,  light,  shade,  and  composition,  they  resemble  the  crudest 
specimens  of  mediaeval  art  in  Europe.  The  characteristic  designs  were  the 
symplegmas,  or  beast  aggregates,  consisting  of  bodies  of  many  beasts  or 
human  beings  united  into  one  figure,  commonly  representing  the  attributes  of 
their  deities. 

The  modern  Indians  have  practised  portrait  painting  to  a  considerable 
extent,  and  are  also  acquainted  with  the  use  of  oil  colors  ;  still  they  have 
no  idea  of  middle  tints  or  harmony  of  coloring.  They  possess  great  power 
as  copyists,  and  their  portraits  are  distinguished  by  the  great  exactness  of 
the  features,  but  are  without  individuality  of  expression. 


200 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


The  Chinese  are  brilliant  colorists  and  exact  in  the  rendering  of  detail,  but 
they  show  a  total  lack  of  power  in  drawing  the  human  form. 

The  Japanese  excel  their  continental  neighbors  in  beauty  of  design  and 
knowledge  of  outline,  and  are  more  skilful  in  delineating  the  human  figure. 

It  is  extremely  difficult  to  separate  the  history  of  painting  in  Egypt  from 
that  of  sculpture,  as  it  was  subordinate  to  the  latter.  Being  purely  symbolic 
and  historic  in  its  representations,  it  was  the  tool  of  the  powerful  priesthood. 
All  Egyptian  pictures  appear  to  be  simple  records,  either  social,  religious,  or 
political ;  and  Egyptian  painting  was  accordingly  rather  a  symbolic  writing 
than  a  liberal  art.  The  history  of  art  in  Egypt  may  be  divided  into  three 
periods,  namely,  those  of  the  ancient,  the  middle,  and  the  new  empire ;  the 
first  being  that  of  the  pyramid  builders,  and  the  second  that  which  followed 
the  expulsion  of  the  Hyksos  or  Shepherd  Kings,  soon  after  which  Rhamses 
the  Great,  or  Sesostris,  reigned.  The  period  of  the  beginning  of  Egyptian 
art  dates  back  to  about  B.  C.  5000  ;  and  the  third  or  Saitic  period  ends  in 
B.  C.  525,  when  Egypt  was  subdued  by  the  Persians  under  Cambyses,  and 
became  a  Persian  province.  A  fourth  period  embraces  the  style  of  Egyptian 
art  under  foreign  influences,  and  may  be  divided  into  two  epochs.  The  first 
epoch  is  that  of  the  Ptolemies,  from  B.  C.  332  until  the  death  of  Marcus  An- 
toninus, B.  C.  30.  The  second  epoch  is  that  of  the  Roman  Emperors,  after 
the  conquest,  from  B.  C.  30  to  A.  D.  638,  when  Egypt  was  invaded  by  the 
Arabs  ;  thus  this  fourth  period  extends  from  B.  C.  232  to  A.  D.  638. 

Plato  states  that  painters  and  sculptors  were  forbidden  to  introduce 
any  change  whatever  into  the  practice  of  their  respective  arts,  or  in  any  way 
to  add  to  them :  thus  their  works  remained  uniform  from  one  generation  to 
another. 

Painting  in  Egypt  is  undoubtedly  of  great  antiquity  and  coeval  with  sculp- 
ture. One  of  the  early  pictures  on  record  is  an  Egyptian  painting  of  Amasis, 
who  sent  his  portrait  to  the  Greeks  at  Gyrene  ;  and  it  is  probable  that  it 
was  in  complete  full  face,  painted  upon  panel,  as  such  portraits  have  been 
found  in  mummy-cases,  and  are  among  the  best  specimens  of  Egyptian  painting 
extant.  Three  classes  of  painting  have  been  discovered  in  Egypt,  —  those  on 
walls,  on  mummy-cases  and  on  cloth,  and  those  on  papyrus  rolls.  The  two 
latter  are  mostly  hieroglyphic.  All  have  a  common  character ;  none  are 
strictly  imitative,  although  enough  so  to  be  intelligible.  One  of  their  most 
striking  characteristics  is  the  brilliancy  of  their  colors  ;  paintings  of  the 
most  ancient  date,  B.  G.  4000,  still  show  colors  in  their  primitive  freshness. 

Beyond  drawing,  there  is  scarcely  a  principle  of  pictorial  art  yet  discovered 
in  any  Egyptian  painting.  Relief  is  expressed  by  light  and  shade  ;  animals 
and  birds  are  generally  rendered  with  perfect  intelligence,  especially  in  sculp- 
ture, in  which  they  have  a  positive  form,  but  in  painting  they  are  flat.  In 
no  painting  is  there  the  slightest  trace  of  perspective.  Egyptian  art  was  not 
without  its  influence  on  all  surrounding  nations  ;  and  after  the  overthrow  of 
Thebes  by  Gambyses,  the  Persians  carried  home  with  them  a  large  colony  of 
Egyptian  artists,  whose  influence  is  easily  traceable  in  Persian  art,  it  being 
evident  that  they  worked  under  the  influence  of  the  Persian  priesthood 
instead  of  their  own. 


Historic  Schools  of  Painting. 


201 


Few  if  any  productions  of  the  Grecian  pencil  remain  to  enable  us  to  form 
a  judgment  apart  from  the  opinions  of  ancient  critics,  and  the  greater  part 
of  our  information  about  them  is  drawn  from  the  writings  of  Aristotle,  Pliny, 
and  other  authors.  Painting  was  in  an  advanced  stage  in  Asia  Minor  before  it 
made  any  great  progress  in  Greece  itself.  In  Egypt  and  Assyria,  it  had  been 
employed  merely  as  an  accessory  to  heighten  the  effect  of  architecture  and 
sculpture,  but  in  Greece  it  first  became  an  independent  art.  In  the  early 
Greek  vases  we  are  able  to  recognize  the  painter  as  an  artist  distinct  from 
the  sculptor  and  the  architect.  The  most  ancient  vase  paintings  display  con- 
siderable knowledge  of  the  human  figure,  and  of  its  right  balance  in  action  and 
in  repose,  combined  with  a  feeling  for  beauty  and  grace,  though  there  is  no 
attempt  at  subtle  combinations  or  gradations  of  color,  —  for  the  painter  was 
limited  to  white,  red,  yellow,  and  black,  —  no  indication  of  chiaro-oscuro,  as 
in  contemporary  bas-reliefs,  and  no  trace  of  knowledge  of  perspective.  Noth- 
ing, on  the  other  hand,  can  be  more  beautiful  than  the  ornamentation  of  early 
Greek  vases,  in  which  different  surfaces  are  contrasted  with  each  other ;  or 
more  spirited  and  graceful  than  the  figures  represented  upon  them,  in  spite 
of  their  strictly  conventional  treatment.  The  first  painting  on  record  is  the 
Battle  of  Magnesia,  by  Bularchus,  718  B.C.  With  this  the  first  era  of  Grecian 
painting  begins.  During  five  centuries  the  art  had  previously  flourished  in 
the  cities  and  islands  of  Greece,  and  was  practised  by  various  masters  ;  it 
passed  through  many  gradations,  from  the  simple  shadow  painting,  the 
monograph  of  simple  outlines,  to  monochromatic  and  polychromatic  com- 
positions. 

From  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century,  a  decided  improvement  commenced 
in  painting.  Cimon  of  Cleonae  lived  about  520  B.  C. ;  he  is  recorded  as  the 
inventor  of  foreshortening,  or  as  the  first  who  took  oblique  views  of  the 
figure  ;  he  also  first  marked  articulations,  indicated  veins,  and  represented 
folds  naturally  in  drapery.  A  century  later,  Polygnotus  of  Thasos  lived  at 
Athens,  463  B.  C.,  and  decorated  the  celebrated  portico  Poecile,  and  the 
Lesche  or  public  hall  at  Delphi.  He  had  great  command  of  color,  and 
power  of  depicting  multitudes  in  a  spirited  and  lifelike  manner  ;  he  attempted 
only  profile  figures,  and  painted  shadows  in  a  purely  rudimentary  manner. 
At  Delphi,  the  figures  were  apparently  arranged  in  zones  and  groups,  one 
above  another,  with  no  use  of  linear  or  aerial  perspective.  The  style 
of  Polygnotus  is  to  that  of  the  Alexandrian  period,  what  the  Florentine 
school,  in  the  time  of  Michelangelo,  was  to  that  of  Bologna  subsequent  to  the 
Caracci.  There  is  a  memorable  passage  in  the  Poetics  of  Aristotle  regarding 
this  painter.  He  says  that  ''imitation  must  either  be  superior,  inferior,  or 
else  equal  to  its  model"  ;  and  he  illustrates  these  remarks  by  instancing  the 
style  of  three  painters.  "  Dionysius,"  he  says,  "  paints  men  as  they  are,  Pau- 
son  worse,  and  Polygnotus  better  than  they  are."  Improvement  was  carried 
on  for  half  a  century  by  Mycon,  famous  for  his  horses  ;  Pauson,  his  rival ; 
Dionysius  of  Colophon,  praised  for  minute  accuracy;  Aglaophon,  for  boldness 
and  energy  ;  Colotes,  sculptor  and  painter  ;  Erenor,  father  of  Parrhasius  ;  and 
finally,  greatest  of  all,  Apollodorus  the  Athenian,  who  invented  and  perfected 
26 


202 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


the  knowledge  of  light  and  shade.  With  this  artist  terminates  the  second 
era,  about  the  commencement  of  the  fourth  century  B.  C. 

The  third  era,  which  commences  with  Zeuxis,  is  distinct  at  once  in 
principle  and  excellence.  Preceding  masters  had  crowded  their  tablets 
with  figures  :  he  introduced  simplicity  of  composition,  and  frequently  relied 
upon  the  perfection  of  a  single  figure  as  a  concentrated  point  of  interest.  He 
was  also  simple  in  his  coloring,  never  using  more  than  four,  often  only 
two  pigments.  Parrhasius  equalled  Zeuxis  in  expression,  and  seems  to 
have  surpassed  him  in  color.  Their  contemporaries  and  followers  were 
Euphranor,  Timanthes,  Theon  of  Samos,  and  Aristides  of  Thebes.  The 
Asiatic  school,  founded  by  Parrhasius,  Zeuxis,  and  their  followers,  was  dis- 
tinct from  the  older  Grecian  school,  which  had  its  seat  at  Athens. 

The  Alexandrian  period  has  been  termed  the  period  of  refinement  in  painting. 
The  characteristics  of  the  painters  of  this  time  lay  rather  in  greater  variety  of 
effect  and  execution  than  in  any  essential  qualities  of  art.  The  various 
masters  differed  chiefly  in  external  qualities,  and  much  the  same  transition 
from  the  essential  to  the  sensuous  took  place  in  the  Greek  schools  of  painting  in 
the  time  of  Alexander,  as  in  the  schools  of  Italy  in  the  seventeenth  century. 

The  celebrated  school  of  Pamphilus  was  established  at  Sicyou  in  the  early 
part  of  the  fourth  century  B.  C,  and  effected  important  results  in  Greek 
art.  The  course  of  study  occupied  ten  years,  and  comprehended  instruction 
in  drawing,  arithmetic,  geometry,  anatomy,  and  paintings  in  all  its  branches. 
Pamphilus  was  a  kind  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  the  first  painter,  says  Pliny,  who 
was  skilled  in  all  sciences,  particularly  arithmetic  and  geometry,  without  which 
he  denied  that  art  could  be  perfected.  His  pupils  were  Apelles  and  Melan- 
thius,  Protogenes  of  Cannus,  Nicomachus  and  Aristides,  Theban  brothers, 
Pausias  of  Sicyou  ;  Nicias,  of  Athens  ;  Euphranor  the  Isthurian,  Athenion  of 
Maronea,  and  Theon  of  Samos,  all  of  the  greatest  fame  and  nearly  all  dis- 
tinct in  character,  though  probably  on  an  equality  in  the  general  character  of 
their  design  and  execution. 

The  fourth  era  of  Grecian  painting  commences  with  Apelles,  about  the 
end  of  the  fourth  century  B.  C.  In  him  Greek  art  reached  its  fullest  devel- 
opment. His  chief  characteristics  were  his  feeling  for  grace  and  beauty,  his 
skill  in  portraiture,  and  the  chaste  simplicity  of  his  coloring  ;  he  united  in 
his  style  the  scattered  excellences  of  his  predecessors  and  contemporaries. 
From  the  descriptions  of  ancient  writers  his  style  must  have  closely  resembled 
that  of  Raphael,  while  his  choice  of  subjects  appears  to  have  been  similar. 
His  age  witnessed  both  the  glory  and  fall  of  ancient  art.  After  the  death  of 
Alexander,  painting  steadily  declined :  the  grand  style  was  still  cultivated  for 
many  centuries,  but  a  marked  preference  was  shown  for  the  realistic  style 
and  for  painting  of  a  secondary  class,  now  called  The  most  celebrated 

Greek  genre  painter  was  Pyreicus,  who  painted  shops,  and  still  life  of  every 
description.    Caricature  was  also  greatly  in  favor  in  this  degenerate  age. 

The  enthusiasm  with  which  the  Etruscans  cultivated  the  art  of  painting  is 
manifested  in  the  many  mural  paintings  discovered  in  their  tombs,  in  which 
the  gradual  development  from  the  conventional  Egyptian  style  to  the  perfected 
Greek  may  be  traced.    In  the  earlier  specimens  we  see  the  straight  lines, 


Historic  Schools  of  Painting. 


203 


the  oblong  faces,  and  the  parallel  folds  of  drapery  common  in  Eastern  sculp- 
ture, while  in  the  later  we  find  the  easy  grace  of  Greek  art. 

No  great  school  of  classic  painting  ever  flourished  in  classic  Rome :  all  works 
were  by  Greek  artists  or  reproductions  of  Greek  masterpieces.  The  Roman 
emperors,  on  the  subjugation  of  Greece,  robbed  it  of  its  treasures  of  art  to  em- 
bellish their  own  land.  There  were  three  periods  in  the  history  of  painting  in 
Rome,  —  the  first,  or  Graeco-Roman,  begins  with  the  establishment  of  the 
Empire  ;  the  second  extends  from  the  time  of  Augustus  to  that  of  Diocletian  ; 
and  the  third  is  reached  under  Constantine,  the  period  of  decay,  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  fourth  century.  The  pictures  found  at  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum, 
at  the  Baths  of  Titus,  and  in  the  numerous  subterranean  tombs  near  Rome, 
are  painted  in  distemper  ;  no  true  fresco  painting  has  as  yet  been  discovered, 
although  some  of  the  walls  are  colored  in  fresco.  The  leading  peculiarity  of 
these  paintings  is  the  intensity  of  their  coloring,  accounted  for  by  the  well- 
known  custom  in  Italy  of  darkening 'rooms  in  the  day-time,  the  lower  portion 
of  the  walls  being  painted  in  the  strongest  colors,  the  upper  in  white  or  very 
faint  tints,  thus  giving  repose  to  the  eye.  The  paintings  of  the  Baths  of  Titus 
surpass  those  of  Pompeii ;  they  contain  the  arabesques  from  which  Raphael 
took  his  ideas  for  the  decoration  of  the  Vatican,  and  are  remarkable  for  imagi- 
nation, variety,  and  harmony  of  coloring.  Roman  painting,  properly  so  called, 
was  chiefly  portraiture,  in  which  considerable  excellence  appears  to  have  been 
obtained.  Marcus  Ludius  was  a  celebrated  portrait-painter  and  decorator  in 
the  time  of  Augustus  ;  he  combined  beauty  of  composition  with  truth  of  char- 
acter :  but  Roman  artists  never  got  beyond  the  simplest  effects  of  light  and 
shade,  or  the  most  rudimentary  knowledge  of  perspective.  Numerous  speci- 
mens of  Roman  mosaic  have  come  down  to  us.  The  mosaic  in  the  celebrated 
house  the  "  Casa  del  Fauno  "  at  Pompeii,  which  is  supposed  to  represent  one 
of  Alexander's  battles,  displays  thorough  command  of  foreshortening  and 
perspective,  and  is  probably  a  copy  of  some  famous  ancient  work. 

Ancient  art,  as  distinguished  by  its  characteristics,  may  perhaps  be  said  to 
have  died  out  at  about  the  close  of  the  third  century  of  the  Christian  era.  The 
establishment  of  Christianity,  the  division  of  the  empire,  and  the  incursions 
of  the  barbarians  were  the  first  great  causes  of  the  decay  of  the  imitative  arts 
and  the  serious  check  which  they  received.  The  fury  of  the  iconoclasts  or 
image-breakers  effectually  destroyed  all  traces  of  ancient  art.  The  foundation 
of  Constantinople  and  the  establishment  of  the  Exarchate  at  Ravenna  were 
serious  blows  to  the  magnificence  of  Rome.  Byzantium,  the  Rome  of  the 
East,  became  enriched  by  the  spoils  of  all  the  principal  cities  of  Europe  and 
Asia,  and  outshone  Rome  itself.  During  the  period  of  persecution  the  sole 
attempt  at  anything  like  art  among  the  early  Christians  was  in  the  decoration 
of  the  catacombs.  These  were  ornamented  with  simple  frescos  during  the 
first  two  centuries,  and  owing  to  the  hatred  of  everything  which  could  recall 
the  old  idolatry,  symbols  alone  were  employed.  As  Roman  power  declined 
and  with  it  its  monopoly  of  art  forms,  the  love  of  art  innate  in  every  native 
of  Greece  and  Italy,  once  more  asserted  its  sway,  and  in  the  third  and  fourth 
centuries  the  early  Christians  were  permitted  to  adorn  the  catacombs  with 


204 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


something  more  than  formal  signs :  thus  Christ  is  then  represented  as  The 
Good  Shepherd,  and  as  Orpheus  taming  the  beasts  with  his  lyre.  In  the 
paintings  of  the  fifth  century  we  note  a  further  advar.ce  :  the  portrait  of  Christ 
differs  essentially  from  the  old  Greek  idea  and  is  of  a  purely  Christian  type. 

The  chief  characteristics  of  early  Christian  painting  as  exhibited  in  the 
catacombs,  are  a  simple  earnestness  and  majesty,  and  a  grandeur  of  compo- 
sition but  little  inferior  to  the  frescos  of  the  best  age  of  the  old  empire, 
combined  with  what  we  may  call  a  spirituality  peculiarly  their  own.  On  the 
recognition  of  Christianity  as  the  religion  of  the  State,  in  the  time  of  Constan- 
tine.  Christian  painting  was  called  upon  to  decorate  the  vast  basilicas  and 
churches  appropriated  to  the  new  worship.  At  first  tempera  and  encaustic 
colors  were  employed,  but  were  soon  supplanted  by  mosaics.  The  only 
existing  remains  of  the  fourth  century  are  of  a  purely  decorative  character. 
In  the  fifth  and  succeeding  centuries,  attempts  were  made  to  produce  his- 
torical pictures  in  mosaic,  but  the  intractability  of  the  material  led  to  a 
general  preference  for  subjects  which  could  be  treated  simply.  As  we 
advance  further  and  further  from  the  times  of  persecution,  we  note  an  ever- 
widening  difference  between  the  paintings  of  the  catacombs  and  the  church 
mosaics  :  the  spirit  which  had  unconsciously  influenced  the  artist  of  the  cat- 
acombs is  almost  extinct ;  the  symbolism  is  gone,  and  instead  of  scenes  of 
suffering  and  death  we  have  the  Saviour  enthroned  in  glory.  The  Virgin 
was  not  represented  until  the  latter  part  of  the  fifth  century.  In  the  fifth 
century,  mosaics  were  produced,  now  considered  the  best  in  Rome,  in  which 
the  saints  appear  in  natural  groups  and  attitudes,  instead  of  in  the  stiff, 
parallel  rows  subsequently  adopted.  The  whole  period,  from  the  establish- 
ment of  Christianity  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  until  the  revival  of 
arts  and  letters,  has  been  termed  the  Dark  Ages.  Fallen  as  every  liberal 
pursuit  was  at  that  time,  painting  was  still  never  extinct.  Incessant  wars, 
pests,  and  famines  had  driven  all  studiously  inclined  persons  to  seek  the 
retirement  and  protection  of  the  cloister,  and  had  rendered  the  convents  the 
conservatories  of  literature  and  the  arts  ;  among  these,  that  of  St.  Gall,  of 
Switzerland,  is  particularly  noticed  for  having  produced  the  most  celebrated 
German  sculptors,  painters,  and  gold-workers  of  their  time. 

The  illumination  of  manuscripts,  which  flourished  in  the  time  of  Charle- 
magne, is  considered  as  a  connecting  link  between  ancient  and  modern 
painting.  The  Anglo-Saxons  were  for  a  long  time  the  best  illuminators  ;  the 
Irish  also  held  high  rank,  while  the  Byzantines  surpassed  the  Latins. 

Soon  after  the  conquest  of  Italy  by  the  Lombards,  Christian  art  branched 
off  into  two  schools,  to  which  the  names  of  the  late  Roman  or  Byzantine  have 
been  given.  It  did  not  rise  to  importance  until  the  sixth  century,  and  its 
predominance  marks  the  deepest  decline  of  Italian  art.  The  leading 
characteristics  of  Byzantine  painting,  which  it  has  retained  until  the  present 
day,  are  the  use  of  flat  gold  grounds  instead  of  the  blue  hitherto  preferred  ; 
a  stiff  treatment  of  the  human  figure  ;  rigid,  conventional  forms,  wholly 
devoid  of  beauty ;  and  great  neatness  and  carefulness  of  execution.  The 
ardent  controversy  as  to  the  personal  appearance  of  Christ,  in  which  the 


Historic  Schools  of  Painting. 


205 


Romans  maintained  that  he  "was  the  fairest  of  men,  and  the  Byzantine 
Greeks  that  he  had  no  beauty  of  person,  exercised  a  great  influence  on  the 
art  of  the  East  and  West,  and  accounts  in  a  great  measure  for  the  difference 
in  the  treatment  of  sacred  subjects  by  the  two  schools. 

Until  the  thirteenth  century  Venice  was  little  more  than  a  Byzantine 
colony,  and  the  mosaics  of  St.  Mark  are  very  pure  examples  of  Byzantine 
style.  In  decorative  painting  the  geometrical  mosaics  are  very  ingenious  in 
pattern  and  always  good  in  color.  From  the  thirteenth  century  Byzantine 
art  steadily  declined.  The  formative  arts  made  a  surprising  and  compara- 
tively sudden  progress  in  the  thirteenth  century.  The  Latin  conquest  of 
Constantinople  in  1204,  by  which  Greek  artists  were  established  in  Italy,  as 
well  as  the  fusion  of  the  conquering  races  of  Sicily,  the  Normans  and  the 
Arabs,  contributed  to  this  result.  The  distinctive  feature  of  the  revival  of 
art  is  that  it  became  imitative  as  well  as  representative,  although  in  the  first 
two  centuries  the  imitation  was  more  imaginative  than  real.  The  art  of  looking 
at  Nature  had  to  be  learned  before  she  could  be  imitated.  Among  the  first 
painters  to  take  part  in  the  new  movement  were  Giunta,  of  Pisa ;  Guido,  of 
Sienna;  Bonaventura  Berlinghieri,  of  Lucca;  Margaritone,  of  Arezzo  (1236- 

 ) ;  Maestro  Bartolommeo,  of  Florence  ;  and  Andrea  Tafi  (12 13  \  the 

greatest  mosaic  worker  of  the  thirteenth  century,  —  all  Byzantine  in  style, 
but  affected  by  the  stirring  of  a  new  life  in  art. 

In  the  works  of  Giovanni  Cimabue  (1240-1302),  the  founder  of  modern 
Italian  painting,  there  is  a  decided  advance  in  the  representation  of  form  an,d 
in  the  expression  of  action,  although  his  figures  are  still  of  the  long-drawn  By- 
zantine type.  He  is  the  first  great  painter  of  the  Florentine  or  Tuscan  school. 
His  most  distinguished  contemporary  was  Duccio  di  Buoninsegna,  of  Sienna, 
who  was  to  the  school  of  Sienna  what  Cimabue  was  to  that  of  Florence. 
Italian  painting  in  the  time  of  Giotto  branched  off  into  two  distinct 
styles,  which  are  expressed  by  two  schools,  those  of  Florence  and  Sienna. 
The  Florentines  derived  their  practice,  to  a  certain  extent,  from  the  early 
Siennese  masters,  and  were  distinguished  for  vigor  of  conception  and 
richness  of  composition.  The  Siennese  were  distinguished  for  warmth  of 
feeling  and  grace  in  the  treatment  of  single  figures.  At  the  head  of  the 
Florentine  school  stands  Giotto  (1276- 1366),  who  was  the  first  to  free  himself 
from  Byzantine  tradition,  and  who  exercised  a  lasting  influence  on  art  in  every 
part  of  Italy.  His  constant  study  of  nature  and  steadfast  resistance  to  all  that 
was  false  or  unreal  in  art  effected  a  great  reformation  in  painting.  In  knowl- 
edge of  form  and  perspective  he  was  deficient ;  but  his  force  of  conception,  his 
power  of  preserving  a  right  balance  in  complicated  groups,  and  of  expressing 
natural  character,  and  his  feeling  for  grace  of  action  and  harmony  of  color, 
justly  entitle  him  to  be  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the  true  ideal  style  of  art, 
and  the  restorer  of  portraiture.  Giotto's  colors  were  lighter  and  more  roseate 
than  those  of  his  predecessors,  and  were  mixed  with  a  thinner  medium. 
The  principal  scholars  and  imitators  of  Giotto,  known  as  the  Gioiteschi,  who 
worked  in  his  style,  were  Taddeo  Gaddi  (1300-1367),  Andrea  Orcagna 
(i  316-1376),  and  Tommaso  di  Stefano,  or  Giottino.    The  painters  of  the 


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Siennese  school  aimed  rather  at  spiritual  expression  than  at  an  exact  imita- 
tion of  corporeal  form.  The  chief  was  Simone  di  Martino,  or  Simone  Memmi 
(1284-1344).    His  followers  were  Pietro  and  Andrea  di  Lorenzo,  and  Berna 

or  Barna  (  1380).    While  painting  was  progressing  in  Tuscany  it  was 

making  nearly  equal  advancement  in  Umbria,  Rome,  Venice,  and  other  parts 
of  Italy.  The  early  Florentine  and  Umbrian  painters  had  few  distinctive 
peculiarities,  and  the  early  masters  of  the  Roman  school  were  greatly 
influenced  by  Giotto.  Of  these,  Pietro  Cavallini  (1259-1344 .''),  painter, 
architect,  and  mosaic  worker,  was  the  most  important.  Towards  the  end  of 
the  fourteenth  century  great  progress  was  made  at  Rome,  and  many  artists 
rose  in  fame,  the  chief  of  whom  was  Gentile  di  Fabriano,  the  Umbrian 
master  of  Jacopo  Bellini,  a  fine  colorist  (i 370-1450).  In  Venice  the  struggle 
against  Byzantinism  lasted  long,  and  it  was  not  until  the  last  half  of  the  four- 
teenth century  that  the  yoke  of  tradition  was  finally  broken.  The  famous 
names  of  this  time  were  Maestro  Paoli  (1346)  and  Lorenzo  Veneziano. 

Mural  painting  was  practised  with  great  success  in  Germany  and  in  France 
in  the  Romanesque  period,  which  includes  the  eleventh,  twelfth,  and  thir- 
teenth centuries.  The  best  examples  are  in  Germany.  They  follow  the 
antique,  and  are  distinguished  by  simple  earnestness  and  dignity,  powerful 
coloring,  and  appropriateness  as  architectural  decorations.  The  rise  of  the 
pure  Gothic  style  was  unfavorable  to  the  progress  of  painting  in  the  north  of 
Europe,  the  walls  of  churches  being  reduced  to  narrow  piers  ;  but  it  was 
atoned  for  by  the  growth  of  the  art  of  glass-staining,  which  was  carried  to 
perfection  in  the  Gothic  period.  William  of  Cologne  (1380)  is  the -earliest 
German  painter  on  record.  Stephen  of  Cologne  was  his  pupil,  and  Israel  von 
Mechenen,  painter  and  engraver  of  the  sixteenth  century,  excelled  all  others. 
The  school  of  Nuremberg  attained  a  high  rank  in  the  fourteenth  century. 
The  works  of  the  early  German  schools  are  painted  on  panel  with  gold 
grounds,  and  are  distinguished  for  depth  of  coloring  and  careful  execution  of 
details.  In  the  technical  use  of  water  colors  the  painters  of  these  schools 
excelled  all  their  contemporaries  and  predecessors,  their  works  having  as  fine 
an  effect  as  oil. 

The  decorative  painting  of  the  Middle  Ages,  at  first  purely  geometrical, 
became  gradually  complicated  by  the  introduction  of  the  heads  of  animals  or 
birds,  and  the  profuse  use  of  the  grotesque  element  which  formed  so  distinc- 
tive a  feature  of  Gothic  art. 

The  fifteenth  century  was  a  period  of  exceptional  intellectual  activity,  and 
the  progress  made  in  scientific  discoveries  was  of  great  importance  to  the 
arts.  A  considerable  advance  had  been  made  in  expression  and  imitation  in 
the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  but  oil  painting  was  still  unpractised, 
portraiture  was  little  cultivated,  perspective  very  imperfectly  understood,  and 
landscape  painting  not  even  attempted.  At  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  however,  the  introduction  of  oil  colors,  the  scientific  study  of  per- 
spective, form,  and  color,  and  a  constant  demand  for  frescos  on  an  extensive 
scale,  led  to  a  progressive  movement  in  Italy  which  culminated  in  the  sixteenth 
century.    During  this  time  schools  arose  on  every  side  characterized  by 


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207 


excellence  in  one  or  another  element  of  art.  Until  1450  Florence  led  them,  but 
from  that  date  the  Neapolitan,  Uinbrian,  Bolognese,  Venetian,  and  Paduan 
schools  rose  into  almost  equal  importance.  1  he  artist  who  contributed  most 
to  the  pre-eminence  of  Florence  in  the  early  part  of  the  fifteenth  century  was 
the  sculptor  Lorenzo  Ghiberti,  in  whose  school  the  leading  painters  of  the 
day  were  formed.  He  perfected  the  imitation  of  nature,  and  applied  the 
sciences  of  anatomy,  mathematics,  and  geometry  to  the  art  of  design.  His 
pupils  were  Paolo  Uccelli  (i 396-1479),  who  gave  his  attention  to  perspective  ; 
Masolino,  who  advanced  the  knowledge  of  chiaro-oscuro;  and  Masaccio  (1402- 
1429),  who  excelled  all  his  predecessors  in  form,  expression,  and  composition. 
His  contemporaries,  Fra  Angelico  da  Fiesole  (i  387-1455)  and  Fillippo 
Lippi  (1412-1469),  who  is  named  as  a  scholar  of  Masaccio,  are  representatives 
of  the  two  great  classes  into  which  the  painters  of  the  Renaissance  became 
divided,  —  naturalists  and  mystics  or  idealists,  the  former  aiming  at  beauty 
for  its  own  sake,  studying  earnestly  everything  connected  with  the  theory  and 
practice  of  their  art,  the  latter  cultivating  beauty  as  the  expression  of  all  that 
is  highest  and  best  in  the  material  and  spiritual  world.  Angelico's  works  em- 
body the  two  great  requisites  of  ideal  art,  expression,  and  pictorial  power. 
Fillippo  Lippi  was  one  of  the  first  to  paint  in  oil,  and  to  cultivate  the  sensuous 
side  of  art ;  he  was  the  first  to  introduce  landscape  backgrounds.  Other 
painters  of  these  schools  were  Lippi's  son  Fillippino  (1460-1505),  Benozzo 
Gozzoli,  Andrea  Castagno  (1403-1477),  Sandro  Botticelli,  Domenico  Corradi 
or  Ghirlandajo  (1451-1495),  remarkable  for  portraiture,  Luca  Signorelli,  and 
others. 

The  founder  of  the  Paduan  school  was  Francesco  Squarcione  (i 394-1474), 
who  revived  the  study  of  antique  sculpture.  The  peculiarity  of  the  Paduan 
school  was  a  sculpturesque  rather  than  a  pictorial  treatment  of  form,  its  works 
resembling  bas-reliefs  rather  than  paintings. 

In  the  school  of  Venice  brilliancy  and  harmony  of  coloring  reached  their 
fullest  development.  It  was  founded  by  the  Bellini  brothers,  Giovanni  (1426- 
15 16)  and  Gentile  (1421-1507).  Giovanni  was  the  superior.  He  had  many 
famous  scholars,  —  Giorgione,  Titian,  Cima  da  Conegliano  (1489-1577),  Marco 
Basaiti  (1470-1520),  and  the  brothers  Vivarini.  All  were  influenced  a  little 
by  the  Paduan  school,  and  combined  something  of  its  severity  of  form  with 
Venetian  softness  of  coloring. 

The  mountainous  district  of  upper  Italy  was  the  home  of  a  school  of  paint- 
ers who  cared  rather  for  spiritual  beauty  than  external  perfection  of  form. 
The  works  of  the  early  Umbrian  masters  remind  one  of  the  early  Florentine. 
Nicolo  Alunno,  the  master  of  Perugino,  gave  the  school  its  distinguishing 
characteristic  of  spiritual  expression,  a  characteristic  more  fully  displayed  in  the 
works  of  Perugino  (1446-1524),  who  was  famous  for  his  coloring  and  knowl- 
edge of  perspective.  His  famous  pupils  were  Pinturicchio  (1454-15 13),  Gio- 
vanni di  Pietro  or  Lo  Spagna(died  1530),  the  still  greater  Raibolini  or  Francia 
of  Bologna  (1450-1517),  and,  greatest  of  all,  Raphael. 

In  the  fifteenth  century  the  Neapolitan  school  rose  into  considerable  im- 
portance ;  its  distinguishing  peculiarity  was  the  blending  of  Flemish  and 


208 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


Umbrian  features  ;  the  details,  accessories,  and  landscape  backgrounds  re- 
mind one  of  the  Van  Eycks,  and  the  figures  of  those  of  the  Umbrian  masters. 
Its  chief  painters  were  Antonio  Solario  (1382-1455),  Giovanni  Antonio  d' 
Amato,  and  Silvestro  de  Buoni. 

One  other  great  Italian  master  must  be  mentioned  before  we  enter  the 
Golden  Age  of  painting.  Fra  Bartolomeo  (1469-15 17),  or  Baccio  della 
Porte,  or  II  Fratre,  was  the  pupil  of  Cosimo  Roselli  and  the  contemporary 
and  friend  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  Raphael,  and  Michelangelo,  and  belonged 
to  the  early  Florentine  school.  His  works  are  distinguished  for  the  holy  ex- 
pression of  the  heads,  the  grandeur  and  grace  of  the  draperies,  and  the  beauty 
of  the  architectural  backgrounds  of  his  pictures.  He  invented  the  wooden 
or  lay  figures,  so  useful  in  studying  the  fall  of  drapery. 

Before  entering  upon  the  sixteenth,  let  us  look  back  upon  progress  in 
the  fifteenth  century.  Imitation  of  nature  was  no  longer  imaginary,  but  real ; 
the  laws  of  perspective  were  fathomed  and  applied  by  Uccello,  Pietro 
della  Francesco,  Signorelli,  and  their  followers  ;  great  improvement 
was  effected  in  form,  anatomy,  and  physical  beauty  by  Ghiberti  and 
Masaccio  at  Florence,  Squarcione  at  Padua,  and  Mantegna  at  Mantua ; 
spiritual  beauty  was  embodied  in  the  works  of  Fra  Angelico  and  Fra  Barto- 
lomeo at  Florence,  Perugino  at  Rome,  and  Francia  at  Bologna  ;  while  the 
true  principles  of  coloring  were  carried  out  at  Venice  by  the  Bellini,  Vivarini, 
and  others.  Thus  the  v/ay  had  been  opened  for  the  advent  of  the  great  mas- 
ters. The  names  of  pre-Raphaelite  and  Quattro-cento  have  been  given  to 
the  painters  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

The  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century  was  for  Italian  painting  what  the 
age  of  Pericles  had  been  for  Greek  sculpture.  We  have  seen  the  various  ele- 
ments of  excellence  in  painting,  each  forming  the  distinctive  characteristic  of 
some  one  school ;  but  we  have  now  to  examine  these  elements,  as  they  appear 
blended  in  one  harmonious  whole,  in  the  works  of  the  five  great  masters  of 
Italy,  —  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  Michelangelo,  Raphael,  Titian,  and  Correggio, — 
each  of  whom  united  command  over  every  art  element  with  special  excellence 
in  some  particulars. 

Leonardo  da  Vinci  was  born  at  Vinci,  near  Florence,  in  1452.  He  was  a 
universal  genius  and  endowed  with  exceptional  beauty  of  person.  He  was 
sculptor,  painter,  musician,  and  poet,  and  had  a  thorough  practical  knowledge 
of  architecture,  mechanics,  anatomy,  botany,  and  astronomy.  His  mind,  like 
a  mirror,  received  and  reflected  in  added  brightness  every  ray  of  intellectual 
light  that  fell  upon  it,  and  in  his  researches  he  anticipated  the  march  of 
three  centuries.  At  thirty  years  of  age  he  was  called  to  the  court  of  Ludo- 
vico  Sforza,  Duke  of  Milan,  and  intrusted  by  him  with  the  foundation  of  a 
school  of  art.  In  1499  he  returned  to  Florence,  and  in  1503  he  was  commis- 
sioned to  paint  one  end  of  the  Council  Hall  in  the  Palazzo  Vecchio,  of  which 
Michelangelo  was  to  paint  the  other  end.  The  cartoons  of  both  were  distin- 
guished for  the  anatomical  correctness  of  the  figures,  and  from  this  period 
the  development  of  mere  physical  qualities  became  the  predominating  char- 
acteristic of  the  Florentine  school.    In  15 17  he  went  to  France,  in  the  service 


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209 


of  Francis  I,  and  died  at  Amboise  in  15 19.  His  chief  characteristics  are 
mastery  of  chiaro-oscuro,  grandeur  of  design,  elevation  of  sentiment,  and 
dignity  of  expression,  whilst  his  pupils  are  distinguished  for  what  may 
be  called  a  reflection  of  his  spirit,  especially  in  the  transparency  of  shadows 
and  sweetness  of  facial  expression.  Of  these  pupils,  Bernardino  Luini 
(1480-1530)  was  the  chief ;  also  Andrea  da  Solario,  Marco  d'  Uggione,  Fran- 
cisco Melzi,  and  Cesare  da  Sesto.  The  celebrated  Gianantonio  Razzi  caught 
much  of  his  peculiar  manner. 

Michelangelo  Buonarotti  was  born  at  Arezzo,  near  Florence,  in  1475,  and 
died  at  Rome  in  1564.  He  was  poet,  painter,  sculptor,  and  architect,  but 
unlike  Leonardo,  who  gave  his  attention  to  light,  shade,  and  color,  he  devoted 
his  life  to  the  study  of  form,  and  the  expression  of  energy  in  action.  He 
studied  under  Ghirlandajo.  Up  to  1503  he  was  known  only  as  a  sculptor  ; 
he  then  made  his  cartoon  for  the  Council  Hall  at  Vecchio,  and  in  15 12 
painted  the  frescos  of  the  Sistine  Chapel.  His  mighty  spirit  found  its 
best  exponent  in  sculpture :  he  despised  easel-pictures  as  unworthy  of  a 
great  man.  His  frescos  have  the  same  fire  and  energy  as  his  sculptures. 
His  art  was  creative,  not  imitative.  Viewed  in  themselves,  the  frescos  of 
the  Sistine  Chapel  present  astonishing  evidences  of  human  power:  all  is  action  ; 
every  form,  every  muscle,  every  attitude  exhibits  the  very  highest  power  of 
anatomical  art,  for  each  is  displayed  and  exerted  to  the  utmost ;  even  repose 
is  unrest.  To  this  display  of  capabilities  he  sacrificed  truth,  simplicity,  feeling, 
and  real  beauty.  As  in  sculpture,  so  in  painting :  color,  tone,  light,  shade,  — 
all  are  systematic  and  ideal,  and  all  mighty  and  overpowering.  He  made 
both  sculpture  and  painting  subservient  to  the  loftiest  aims,  and  no  artist 
ever  attained  a  higher  fame  ;  but  the  greatness  of  Michelangelo  is  his  own  — 
not  the  grandeur  of  art.  Of  his  pupils,  the  best  were  Marcello  Venusti, 
Sebastian  del  Piombo,  and  Daniele  Ricciarelli  da  Volterra. 

Contemporary  with  Michelangelo  were  Fra  Bartolomeo,  distinguished  for 
softness  and  sweetness  of  coloring,  and  Andrea  del  Sarto  (1489-1530),  who 
was  of  considerable  excellence  as  a  colorist.  Another  contemporary  of  the 
mighty  Florentine,  but  most  unlike  in  all  the  characteristics  of  genius  save 
the  final  result,  was  Raphael,  the  founder  and  master  of  the  Roman  school. 

Raffaello  Sanzio  or  Santa  da  Urbino,  was  born  in  1483,  at  Urbino.  Pupil  of 
Perugino,  he  was  at  first  greatly  influenced  by  him,  and  adopted  his  style. 
His  later  styles  were  the  Florentine  and  the  Roman.  No  artist  ever  exercised 
so  lasting  an  influence  upon  art  as  Raphael.  In  his  works  the  influence  of  the 
intellect  and  the  affections  are  inseparably  blended,  and  this  union  of  the 
highest  faculties  pervades  everything  from  his  hand.  He  exhibits  in  the  high- 
est degree  the  combination  of  the  powers  of  invention  with  those  of  represen- 
tation. In  invention,  composition,  moral  force,  fidelity  of  portraiture,  and 
spiritual  beauty,  he  is  surpassed  by  none  ;  in  grandeur  of  design  by  Michel- 
angelo alone  ;  and  in  fulness  of  coloring  only  by  the  best'masters  of  the 
Venetian  school.  Although  he  died  in  1520,  at  the  age  of  thirty-seven,  he 
executed  two  hundred  and  eighty-seven  pictures,  and  five  hundred  and 
seventy-six  drawings  and  studies,  not  including  his  frescos  at  the  Vatican  and 
27 


210 


The  Antejix  Papers, 


elsewhere.  He  possessed  the  marvellous  power  of  fusing  with  his  own 
peculiar  gifts  all  that  was  best  in  the  works  of  others,  and  thus  built  up  a 
lofty  and  independent  style  essentially  his  own.  In  1508  Raphael  was  called 
to  Rome  to  assist  in  the  decoration  of  the  Vatican,  and  then  began  to  paint 
:^he  unrivalled  frescos  commemorative  of  the  spiritual  and  temporal  power  of 
the  papacy.  The  decorative  paintings  accessory  to  the  frescos  and  the  ornamen- 
tal stucco  work  in  the  Loggie  are  unequalled.  No  painter  has  ever  done  so 
much  to  promote  real  excellence  in  art.  All  that  imagination  can  lend  to  strictly 
imitative  art  he  has  added,  yet  he  has  infused  the  warmest  sensibilities  of  life 
into  its  creations  ;  to  Nature  he  has  given  all  that  grace  and  fancy  can  bestow 
consistent  with  the  sweetest  of  all  charms,  namely,  her  own.  In  the  words  of 
Kugler,  "  His  works  were  regarded  with  religious  veneration,  as  if  God  had 
revealed  Himself  through  Raphael  as  in  former  days  through  prophets." 
Raphael's  pupils  and  followers  were  extremely  numerous,  and  many  of  his 
excellences  were  successfully  imitated  by  them.  His  most  famous  scholars 
were  Giulio  Romano  (1492-1546)  and  Francesco  Penni  (1488-1528).  Other 
followers  were  Perino  del  Vaga,  Giovanni  da  Udine,  Innocenza  da  Imola, 
Bagneavallo,  Garofalo,  and  Dosso  Dossi. 

While  form  and  expression  were  almost  exclusively  cultivated  at  Florence 
and  Rome,  chiaro-oscuro  and  color  were  perfected  in  the  north.  Antonio 
Allegri  called  Correggio  from  his  birthplace  (1495-1534),  introduced  a  totally 
new  manner  in  the  art  of  painting,  and  excelled  all  in  his  chiaro-oscuro,  and  in 
grace  and  softness  of  effect.  He  was  the  founder  of  the  Lombard  or  Parmesan 
school,  and  early  in  his  career  was  much  influenced  by  Leonardo  da  Vinci. 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  says,  He  had  a  most  free  and  delightful  pencil,  and  it 
is  to  be  acknowledged  that  he  painted  with  a  strength,  relief,  sweetness,  and 
vivacity  of  coloring  which  nothing  ever  exceeded."  He  understood  how  to 
distribute  his  lights  in  a  manner  wholly  peculiar  to  himself,  which  gave  great 
force  and  roundness  to  his  figures.  Correggio  had  no  pupils  of  eminence, 
but  many  imitators,  among  whom  Francesca  Mazzola,  known  as  Parmigiano 
(i  503-1 540),  was  the  chief. 

Far  from  the  influences  at  work  among  the  artists  of  upper  Italy,  the 
Venetians,  by  closely  following  the  course  marked  out  by  the  Bellini,  became 
consummate  masters  of  coloring.  Seeking  beauty  for  its  own  sake,  they 
found  it  by  transfiguring  Nature,  and  their  works  reflect  the  splendor  and 
magnificence  which  surrounded  them.  The  Venetian  painters  cultivated  the 
sensuous  rather  than  the  intellectual  side  of  human  nature;  and  in 'their 
works  faithfulness  of  pictorial  representation  is  even  of  greater  account  than 
the  moral  lesson  to  be  conveyed.  They  rendered  the  warm  coloring  of  the 
flesh  and  the  effect  of  light  on  different  materials  with  wonderful  accuracy 
and  in  a  manner  never  surpassed.  Giorgio  Barbarelli,  or  Giorgione,  was  the 
first  to  break  loose  from  the  trammels  of  the  early  Venetian  school.  His  works 
are  distinguished  for  poetic  feeling,  imagination,  and  vigor  of  touch.  Sebastian 
del  Piombo  was  a  scholar  of  his.  But  the  greatest  ornament  of  the  Vene- 
tian school  was  Tiziano  Vecellio,  or  Titian  (1477-1576).  In  coloring  he 
stands  pre-eminent  J  his  rendering  of  flesh-tints  has  never  been  surpassed; 


Historic  Schools  of  Painting, 


211 


and  in  his  landscapes  and  groups,  his  treatment  of  local  coloring  and  chiaro- 
oscuro  has  seldom  been  equalled.  He  is  considered  the  finest  portrait  painter 
of  any  age.  In  his  mastery  of  color,  three  principles  may  be  remarked: 
first,  the  interposing  medium  between  the  eye  and  the  object  is  supposed  to 
be  a  mellow,  golden  light ;  second,  the  most  glowing  and  gorgeous  lights  are 
produced,  not  so  much  by  rich  local  tints,  as  by  the  general  conduct  of  the 
whole  piece,  in  which  the  gradations  of  tone  are  almost  evanescent,  yet  in 
their  strongest  hues  powerfully  contrasted :  hence  the  final  splendor  is  pro- 
duced by  painting  in  undertones  rather  than  by  lavishing  on  particular  spots 
the  whole  riches  of  the  palette  ;  the  shadows  and  undertones  are  also 
enlivened  by  a  thousand  local  hues  and  flickering  lights,  and  the  masses  by 
innumerable  variety  and  play  of  parts,  and  yet  all  are  softened  and  blended 
and  combined  into  an  undefinable  harmony.  The  third  principle  refers  to  his 
practice  :  the  colors  are  laid  on  pure,  without  mixing,  in  tints,  by  reiterated 
application,  and  apparently  with  the  point  of  the  brush.  He  lived  to  the  age  of 
ninety -nine,  and  died  of  the  plague  in  1576.  His  contemporaries  were  Jacopo 
Palma  (1516-1548)  ;  Paris  Bordone  (1500-1570);  Pordenone  (1486-1540) ; 
Alessandro  Bonvicino,  or  II  Moretto  da  Brescia  (1490-1560) ;  and  Moroni 
(1474-1529).  Greater  than  any  of  these  were  two  Venetian  masters,  Jacopo 
Robusto,  or  Tintoretto  (15 12-1594),  and  Paolo  Cagliari,  or  Paul  Veronese 
(1528-1588).  Jacopo  da  Ponte,  or  II  Bassano  (1510-1592),  was  one  of  the 
earliest  Italian  ge7tre  painters. 

The  great  Italian  masters  of  the  Renaissance  devoted  no  inconsid- 
erable portion  of  their  time  and  energies  to  decorative  painting,  and 
in  their  hands  it  attained  a  perfection  never  before  reached,  except, 
perhaps,  in  the  best  days  of  Rome.  The  early  part  of  the  fifteenth 
century  was  marked  by  a  kind  of  transition  from  Gothic  ornament,  in  which 
the  grotesque  element  predominated,  to  that  of  the  complete  Renaissance, 
which  was  a  revival  of  the  antique  style  studied  in  the  Baths  of  Titus, 
and  stamped  with  the  original  genius  of  Raphael,  who  did  more  than  any 
other  master  to  define  the  true  limits  and  capabilities  of  decorative  art. 
In  the  sixteenth  century  a  desire  was  felt  for  greater  variety  of  design ; 
as  the  century  advanced,  this  love  of  variety  increased,  and  ideas  were 
borrowed  from  the  East.  In  our  retrospect  of  the  sixteenth  century  we 
find  form,  design,  and  expression  perfected  in  the  Roman  and  Florentine 
schools  by  Michelangelo,  Da  Vinci,  and  Raphael ;  coloring  and  chiaro-oscuro 
in  the  schools  of  Venice  and  Parma  by  Titian,  Correggio,  Tintoretto, 
and  Paul  Veronese  ;  spiritual  beauty  had  found  its  noblest  exponent  in 
Raphael,  and  corporeal  beauty  in  Titian  ;  the  art  of  portraiture  had  attained 
its  highest  development ;  landscape  painting,  properly  so  called,  had  been 
improved,  and  genre  painting  had  been  introduced.  A  general  love  of  art 
pervaded  all  classes  of  society.  Unfortunately,  the  high  position  painting 
had  thus  gloriously  attained,  was  not  maintained,  and  even  at  the  close  of  the 
sixteenth  century  there  were  signs  of  its  approaching  decadence. 


212 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


XXIX. 

HISTORIC  SCHOOLS  OF  PAINTING. 

(Continued.) 

In  the  north  of  Europe,  as  in  Italy,  we  find  that  painting  attained  a  position 
of  first-rate  importance  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  ;  but  it  differed 
in  many  essential  particulars  from  that  of  the  south.  The  northern  masters 
went  to  nature  for  their  models,  and  endeavored  to  express  their  spiritual 
conceptions  in  the  familiar  forms  and  homely  scenes  of  every-day  life,  attain- 
ing thereby  a  truth  to  nature  never  surpassed.  It  cannot,  of  course,  be  denied 
that  these  men  never  attained  the  exceptional  excellence  of  Da  Vinci,  Michel- 
angelo, or  Raphael,  but  their  inferiority  was  in  a  great  measure  due  to  acci- 
dental and  pecuHar  circumstances.  In  the  north,  there  were  no  enthusiastic 
patrons  of  art,  ready  to  recognize  and  encourage  genius ;  artists  were  com- 
pelled to  work  their  way  to  eminence  through  difficulties  of  every jcind,  and, 
above  all,  the  Reformation,  which  occupied  the  thoughts  of  all  earnest  men, 
threw  every  other  interest  into  the  background.  Notwithstanding  these 
disadvantages,  the  simple  truthfulness  of  painting  in  the  northern  schools,  its 
faithful  rendering  of  individual  character,  its  purity  and  distinctness  of 
expression,  and  thorough  originality,  give  it  a  charm  and  value  of  its  own. 

The  earliest  distinct  development  of  the  German  style  occurred  towards 
the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century,  in  the  school  of  Cologne.  William  of 
Cologne  is  the  earhest  tempera  painter  of  this  school,  and  the  oldest  German 
painter  to  whom  existing  panel  pictures  are  attributed.  Meister  Stephan  is 
a  more  distinguished  painter ;  his  greatest  work  is  considered  the  master- 
piece of  the  school.  The  pictures  of  this  school  have  gold  backgrounds,  but 
their  characteristics  are  in  other  respects  those  which  maybe  observed  forages 
in  northern  art  with  remarkable  uniformity.  The  German  imitated  nature  earlier 
than  the  Italians,  but  never  succeeded,  like  them,  in  the  representation  of 
the  beautiful  and  ideal.  Their  faces  are  nearly  always  full  of  character,  but 
the  drawing  and  modelling  of  other  portions  of  the  figure  exhibit  structural 
ignorance.  They  never  generalize,  but  concentrate  their  attention  upon 
minutiae  of  detail ;  yet  in  all  technicalities  they  pre-eminently  excel,  and  are 
almost  invariably  fine  colorists.  In  composition  they  are  inventive,  but  their 
creations  are  singular  and  fantastic.  Another  early  German  school  is  that  of 
Westphalia,  a  school  similar  to  that  of  Cologne. 


Historic  Schools  of  Painting. 


213 


The  most  celebrated  northern  school  of  the  fifteenth  century  was  the  Flem- 
ish school  of  Bruges,  established  by  Hubert  Van  Eyck,  and  upheld  after  his 
death  by  his  brother  John.  Hubert  Van  Eyck  (i  366-1426)  occupied  a  position 
somewhat  similar  to  that  of  Masaccio  and  Mantegna  in  Italy.  His  chief  claim 
to  distinction  rests  not  on  the  invention  of  oil  colors,  but  on  the  removal  of  the 
obstacles  to  their  employment  for  important  works,  and  on  the  wonderful  power, 
transparency,  depth,  and  harmony  of  coloring  which  he  acquired  by  their  use. 
Up  to  this  time,  oil  colors  were  practically  useless  for  any  but  minor  purposes, 
as,  in  order  to  quicken  the  drying  of  the  colors,  a  varnish  of  oil  and  resin  was 
used,  which  fatally  injured  their  brightness.  Van  Eyck,  by  using  a  colorless 
varnish,  obviated  this  difficulty,  and  by  judicious  underpainting  attained  an 
admirable  balance  in  his  tones  and  shadows.  His  manner  combined  the 
most  profound  and  genuine  realism,  with  something  of  the  idealism  and  sym- 
bolism of  the  Middle  Ages.  He  gave  to  all  his  works  a  dramatic  and  pictu- 
resque cheerfulness  certainly  never  surpassed  by  any  Italian  master  ;  but  his 
designs  are  stiff  and  his  outlines  hard.  Jan  Van  Eyck  (i  390-1440)  received 
instruction  and  formed  his  style  from  his  brother's  works.  In  coloring,  especially 
in  flesh-tints,  he  was  pre-eminently  successful,  and  his  landscapes  and  portraits 
are  remarkably  true  to  life  ;  but  he  was  wanting  in  feeling  for  spiritual  beauty. 
His  masterpiece,  a  portrait,  is  exquisitely  finished,  and  the  coloring  and  chi- 
aro-oscuro  is  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  anything  produced  at  this  early  period 
of  the  fifteenth  century.  Among  the  principal  scholars  of  the  Van  Eycks  is 
Van  der  Weyden  ,(1390-1464),  who  exercised  even  a  greater  influence  over 
his  contemporaries  than  the  Van  Eycks  had  done.  In  his  school  were  Hans 
Memling,  the  greatest  Flemish,  and  Martin  Schongauer,  the  best  German 

master  of  the  fifteenth  century.    In  Hans  Memling  (  1495)  the  school  of 

the  Van  Eycks  reached  its  fullest  development ;  his  works  excel  those  of  any 
of  his  predecessors  in  delicacy  of  execution,  softness  of  outline,  and  feeling 
for  grace  and  beauty.  He  also  effected  considerable  improvement  in  color- 
ing, chiaro-oscuro,  and  aerial  perspective,  but  was  not  so  successful  in  finish 
of  detail. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century  we  meet  with  Quentin  Matsys 
(1444-1531),  the  greatest  Flemish  painter  of  his  day,  whose  works  are  remark- 
able for  beauty  of  form,  delicacy  of  finish,  solemnity  of  feeling,  and  softness 
and  transparency  of  coloring.  His  draperies  have  an  easy  grace,  rare  in  the 
pictures  of  his  school ;  his  sacred  pictures  are  grand  and  dignified.  The 
influence  of  the  Flemish  school  extended  over  Holland  and  Germany. 

In  the  fifteenth  century  the  Dutch  school  was  little  more  than  an  offshoot 
of  that  of  Bruges  ;  its  chief  representatives  are  Albert  Van  Ouivater,  its 
founder,  ope  of  the  earliest  landscape  painters  of  Holland,  Dierich  Stuerbout 
(i 391-1463),  the  first  great  Dutch  painter  who  excelled  in  design,  and 
Jan  Van  Mabuse  (1470-1532),  who  preceded  Holbein  in  showing  British 
artists  what  might  be  effected  by  honest  study  of  nature.  The  latter  part  of 
the  fifteenth  century  and  the  whole  of  the  sixteenth  are  looked  upon  as  a 
transition  time,  Flemish  and  Dutch  art  not  having  reached  their  highest 
development  until  the  seventeeth  century. 


214 


The  Antefix  Papers^ 


In  the  sixteenth  century  an  unfortunate  attempt  was  made  to  combine  the 
peculiar  excellences  of  the  school  of  the  Van  Eycks  with  those  of  the  Italian 
Cinque-cento  masters.  Towards  its  close  numerous  Dutch  and  Flemish 
historical  painters  arose,  who  paved  the  way  for  a  higher  and  more 
independent  style  of  art.  Their  works  display  great  truth  to  nature 
and  force  of  character,  careful  drawing  and  fulness  of  coloring.  A  great  im- 
pulse was  given  to  the  art  of  landscape  painting  at  the  close  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  by  the  Brothers  Brill  of  Antwerp.  Paul  Brill  (i 556-1626)  was  one 
of  the  first  to  obtain  harmony  of  light  in  landscapes,  and  he  greatly  influ- 
enced for  good  the  future  masters,  Rubens  and  Claude  Lorraine.  At  this  time 
we  also  meet  with  the  first  Dutch  marine  painters. 

Previous  to  the  sixteenth  century  we  find  German  painters  expressing  in 
their  works  unwavering  devotion  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  unfaltering  r'- 
legiance  to  the  traditional  mode  of  treating  sacred  subjects  ;  but  in  the  six- 
teenth century  we  meet  with  men  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  the  Reformation, 
hinting  in  their  sacred  pictures  at  a  real  and  personal  conflict  between 
spiritual  and  mental  agencies.  This,  more  than  any  other  peculiarity, 
separates  the  art  of  Germany  from  that  of  Italy,  with  its  beautiful  idealization 
even  of  the  powers  of  evil,  and  from  that  of  Flanders,  with  its  stern  repu- 
diation of  all  not  actually  manifest  to  the  senses.  At  this  time  we  find  two 
great  schools  in  Germany,  the  Suabian  (including  the  schools  of  Ulm  and 
Augsburg)  and  the  Franconian  schools.  The  school  of  Augsburg  is  char- 
acterized by  a  more  decidedly  realistic  tendency  than  that  pf  Ulm.  At  the 
head  of  this  school  stands  Han  Holbein  the  Elder  (1450-1541),  father  of  the 
great  Holbein  who  did  so  much  for  English  art  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII. 
In  this  school  the  influence  of  the  Van  Eyck  school  is  very  noticeable.  Hans 
Holbein  the  Younger  (1498-1543)  was  not  only  the  greatest  German  expo- 
nent of  the  realistic  school,  but  one  of  the  first  portrait  painters  of  any  age. 
Inferior  in  grandeur  of  style  and  fertility  of  imagination  to  his  great  con- 
temporary DUrer,  he  excelled  him  in  truth  to  nature,  feeling  for  physical 
beauty,  and  command  over  all  the  technical  processes  of  his  art.  He  was 
the  one  German  master  who  freed  himself  from  that  conventionalism  in  the 
treatment  of  the  human  form  which  had  so  long  prevailed  ;  and  his  portraits 
have  an  individuality  of  character  and  clearness  of  coloring  superior  to  any- 
thing of  the  kind  ever  produced  in  Germany.  Other  masters  of  the  Suabian 
school  are  Sigmund  Holbein  (1465-1540),  uncle  of  the  great  Holbein,  Mar- 
tin Schaff"ner  (1508-1541),  Hans  Burgkmair  (1493-1559),  etc. 

In  the  school  of  Franconia,  with  Nuremberg  for  its  headquarters,  we  find  • 
the  same  tolerance  of  ugliness  and  the  same  sharpness  of  outline,  as  in  the 
works  of  the  early  Dutch  and  Flemish  masters,  combined  with  an  intensity  of 
expression  and  a  delight  in  the  weird  and  fantastic  even  greater  than  in  the 
Suabian  school.  Albert  Diirer(i47i-i5i9)  was  the  father  of  modern  German 
painting.  He  was  among  the  first  to  bring  the  laws  of  science  to  bear  upon 
art,  and  to  demonstrate  the  practical  value  of  perspective.  He  excelled  alike 
in  painting,  engraving,  sculpture,  and  wood-carving.  The  characteristics  of 
his  paintings  are  forcible  drawing,  breadth  of  coloring,  individuality  of  char- 


Historic  Schools  of  Paintings 


21$ 


acter,  and  vitality  of  expression,  combined  unfortunately  with  a  certain 
harshness  of  outline,  an  occasional  stiffness  in  the  treatment  of  drapery,  and 
a  want  of  feeling  for  physical  grace  and  beauty.  Diirer  exercised  a  power- 
ful influence  throughout  the  whole  of  Europe,  and  had  many  followers  and 
imitators.  Of  his  pupils,  Altdorfer  (1488-1538),  a  painter  and  engraver,  is 
the  greatest.  Griinewald  (1460-1530)  and  Lucas  Cranach,  his  master,  were 
contemporaries  of  Diirer.  Towards  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century  the 
peculiar  character  of  German  art,  like  that  of  Dutch  and  Flemish  art,  was  lost 
in  a  general  imitation  of  the  great  Italian  masters. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  we  notice  a  revival  of  painting 
in  the  north,  characterized  by  a  return  to  the  realism  of  the  Van  Eycks,  com- 
bined with  something  of  the  Venetian  breadth,  harmony  of  coloring,  and 
general  balance  of  tone. 

French  art,  viewed  historically,  is  a  branch  of  the  Roman  school.  Francis  I, 
although  a  liberal  patron  of  native  art,  always  showed  a  marked  preference  for 
the  works  of  Italian  masters,  and  did  comparatively  little  to  encourage  native 
talent.  The  true  Italianized  French  school  dates  from  the  time  of  Francis  I, 
who  invited  celebrated  artists  from  Italy  to  decorate  his  palace  ;  its  chief  repre- 
sentatives flourished  in  the  seventeenth  century.  In  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth 
centuries  we  meet  with  the  earliest  French  painters  of  distinction,  and  the 
only  French  masters  who  cannot  be  said  to  belong  to  the  Italianized  school 

of  the  sixteenth  century,  namely,  Jean  Fouqet  (  H^S),  a  miniature 

painter,  the  three  Clouets  (  1574),  and  Jean  Cousin  (  1560),  who 

was  architect,  sculptor,  and  painter.  They  belonged  to  what  may  be  termed 
the  Gothic  school,  and  painted  somewhat  in  the  manner  of  the  Van  Eycks, 
though  with  less  knowledge  and  ability. 

The  native  school  of  England  is  of  comparatively  recent  date.  What  the 
Italians  did  in  Spain  and  France  was  done  by  Flemish  and  German  masters 
in  England.  The  zeal  of  the  Reformers  and  Puritans  has  deprived  us  of 
nearly  every  vestige  of  early  English  painting  and  sculpture.  The  most 
important  early  English  works  of  which  we  have  a  record  were  executed  in 
the  reigns  of  Henry  III  and  Edward  III,  and  by  William  Austin,  a  celebrated 
artist  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VII,  who  seems  to  have  been  but  little  inferior  to 
his  celebrated  Italian  contemporaries,  Donatello  and  Ghiberti.  It  was  during 
the  reign  of  Henry  VIII  that  Hans  Holbein  visited  England  and  remained 
there  till  his  death.  With  these  few  exceptions  we  have  no  record  of  English 
artists  of  importance  previous  to  the  reign  of  Charles  I,  and  the  masters  of 
this  period  were  almost  exclusively  portrait  painters.  Before  the  time  of 
Charles  I  all  important  works  were  intrusted  to  foreigners. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  we  meet  with  what  may  be  called  a  school  of 
painting  in  Spain.  The  prevalence  of  Mohammedanism  was  antagonistic  to 
the  development  of  pictorial  art,  and  when  the  Moors  were  finally  over- 
thrown, the  Roman  Catholic  religion  brought  with  it  the  paralyzing  influence 
of  the  Inquisition,  beneath  which  it  was  impossible  for  art  to  progress.  The 
first  formation  of  the  Spanish  school  was  due  to  the  settlement  of  Flemish 
artists  in  Spain,  but  in  its  perfected  character  it  showed  considerable  affinity 


2l6 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


to  Italian  art,  as  represented  more  particularly  by  the  Venetian  masters 
and  the  Neapolitan  naturalists.  Italian  taste  continued  paramount  till  it  was 
rendered  subordinate  in  the  seventeenth  century  by  the  national  characteristics 
exhibited  in  the  works  of  Zurbaran,  Velasquez,  and  Murillo. 

Spanish  art  is  stamped  with  a  gloomy  asceticism  peculiarly  its  own,  from  which 
even  the  best  works  of  its  greatest  masters  are  not  free.  The  painting  of  Spain 
was  essentially  naturalistic ;  we  never  meet  with  the  idealism  so  prevalent  in 
Italy.  Faithful  representations  of  Spanish  life  in  the  cloister, the  palace,  or  the 
street  are  plentiful,  and  in  this  peculiarity  we  notice  a  resemblance  to  the  Eng- 
lish school.  The  great  painters  of  Spain  in  the  sixteenth  century  are  Antonio 
Del  Rincon  (1446-1500),  who  had  considerable  power  of  design.  Luis  de 
Vargas  (1502-1 568),  whose  works  are  remarkable  for  brilliancy  of  coloring, 
character,  and  expression,  but  are  wanting  in  harmony  of  tone.  Greater  than 
either  of  these  was  Luis  De  Morales  (15 10-1586),  surnamed  the  Divine  on 
account  of  the  ascetic  sanctity  of  his  works  ;  they  are  remarkable  for  a 
warmth  of  coloring  unusual  to  Spanish  artists.  Vicente  Joanes  (1523-1579), 
who  was  an  ascetic  in  style,  like  Morales,  studied  in  Italy  and  has  been  called 
the  "  Spanish  Raphael " ;  his  pictures  are  of  sacred  subjects,  and  though 
bearing  witness  to  their  artist's  assimilation  of  Italian  elements  of  design, 
retain  the  Spanish  character  of  gloomy  and  impassioned  fervor. 

Pablo  de  Cespedes  (i 538-1608)  was  one  of  the  best  early  Spanish  masters. 
He  excelled  in  coloring,  chiaro-oscuro,  invention,  and  composition. 

The  seventeenth  century  produced  the  greatest  masters  of  the  Spanish 
school.  Juan  de  las  Roelas  (i 558-1625)  was  not  inferior  to  Cespedes  in  col- 
oring, and  perhaps  surpassed  him  in  design  and  character.  "  No  master," 
says  Mr.  Ford,  "  ever  painted  the  sleek  grimalkin  Jesuit  like  Roelas."  He 
was  one  of  the  earliest  masters  of  the  school  of  Seville,  which  afterward 
became  so  famous.  Francisco  de  Ribalta  (1551-1628)  was  a  correct  and  for- 
cible designer.  Francisco  Pacheco  (1571-1654)  founded  the  school  in  which 
Alonzo  Cano  and  Velasquez  were  pupils.  Alonzo  Cano  (i 601-1669)  was  a 
painter  of  high  original  genius,  whose  works  are  chiefly  distinguished  for  force 
of  design,  rich  and  vigorous  coloring,  and  bold  execution.  Velasquez  (1599- 
1660)  takes  rank  as  a  portrait  painter  with  Titian  and  Vandyck.  His  style  is 
strictly  naturalistic,  and  his  power  of  imitation  has  seldom  been  rivalled. 
Whilst  studying  the  works  of  all  of  the  great  masters  of  Italy,  he  yet  retained  his 
own  individuality,  stamping  everything  he  touched  with  the  dignity  of  purpose 
and  strength  of  will  by  which  he  was  distinguished.  Mr.  Stirling,  in  his  val- 
uable life  of  the  great  painter,  says,  "  He  discovered  that  Nature  herself  is  the 
artist's  great  teacher,  and  industry  his  surest  guide  to  perfection."  His  com- 
positions give  us  a  vivid  insight  into  the  national  life  of  his  day  ;  the  figures 
are  studied  from  life,  and  the  most  humble  scenes,  whilst  faithfully  rendered, 
are  never  vulgarly  treated. 

Francisco  de  Zurbaran  (1598-1662)  was  one  of  the  first  Spanish  painters  in 
whom  we  recognize  an  independent  and  national  style.  His  heads  are  powerful 
and  lifelike,  admirably  expressive  of  religious  fervor,  mental  agony,  or  triumph- 
ant faith.    The  coloring  and  chiaro-oscuro  are  remarkable  for  depth  and 


s 

Historic  Schools  of  Painting,  2\J 

breadth,  but  his  designs  of  large  groups  want  harmony,  and  he  made  no  at- 
tempt to  ideahze  or  tone  down  the  expression  of  suffering.  The  individual- 
ism and  realism  of  the  Spanish  school  are  well  represented  by  him. 

Bartholome  Esteban  Murillo  (1618-1682)  may  be  taken  as  the  chief  repre- 
sentative of  the  Spanish  school  of  religious  painting.  His  works  are  remark- 
able for  softness  and  brilliancy  of  coloring,  devotional  feeling,  and  picturesque 
delineation  of  national  character. 

Murillo  and  Valasquez  are  the  greatest  Spanish  painters. 

On  the  death  of  the  great  masters  of  the  Renaissance  period,  we  notice  a 
decline  in  painting  in  Italy,  marked  by  the  same  peculiarities  as  that  which 
succeeded  the  Golden  Age  of  sculpture,  technical  dexterity  ranking  higher 
than  artistic  genius.  To  check  this  deteriorating  tendency,  it  seemed  neces- 
sary to  introduce  and  establish  rules  founded  upon  the  practice  of  the 
generally  recognized  greatest  masters.  The  school  of  the  Carracci,  founded 
by  Ludovico  Carracci  at  Bologna,  was  the  first  to  professedly  adopt  this 
principle.  He  was  supported  by  his  cousins,  Agostino  and  Annibale.  A 
curious  sonnet  by  the  former  defines  the  general  aim  of  the  school :  "  Let 
him  who  wishes  to  be  a  good  painter  acquire  the  design  of  Rome,  Venetian 
shade  and  action,  the  terrible  manner  of  Michelangelo,  Titian's  truth  to 
nature,  the  sovereign  purity  of  Correggio's  style,  and  the  just  symmetry  of  a 
Raphael ;  the  decorum  and  well-grounded  knowledge  of  Tibaldi,  the  inven- 
tion of  the  learned  Prematiccis,  and  a  little  of  Parmigiano's  grace  ;  but 
without  so  much  study  and  toil,  he  need  only  apply  himself  to  imitate  the 
works  which  our  Niccolino  has  left  us."  This  system  of  selecting  various 
excellences  obtained  for  the  academy  the  title  of  Eclectic  School,  but  the 
study  of  nature  was  not  excluded.  No  subsequent  academy  has  been  so 
successful  as  that  of  the  Carracci.  Ludovico  Carracci  (i  555-1619)  appears  to 
have  been  rather  a  teacher  than  an  original  painter;  Agostino  (i 558-1602) 
is  better  known  as  an  engraver  and  teacher,  than  as  a  painter ;  Annibale 
(1560-1609)  surpassed  both  Ludovico  and  Agostino,  and  had  he  not  been 
fettered  by  his  mistaken  desire  to  combine  naturalism  with  an  imitation  of  the 
great  masters,  he  would  probably  have  worked  out  an  original  and  superior 
style.  As  it  is,  his  works  have  something  of  Correggio,  Paul  Veronese, 
Michelangelo,  and  Raphael  about  them,  without  any  distinctive  character  of 
their  own.  Among  the  numerous  pupils  of  the  Carracci  are  Domenico 
Zampieri,  surnamed  Domenichino  (1581-1641),  a  successful  imitator  of 
Raphael  and  of  Agostino  Carracci ;  Guido  Reni  (1575-1642),  who  possessed 
considerable  feeling  for  beauty  of  form,  and  great  skill  in  execution,  especially 
in  coloring;  and  Barbieri  (Guercins)  (i 590-1666),  who  excelled  in  brilliancy 
of  coloring,  depth  of  chiaro-oscuro,  and  power  of  expression. 

There  was  great  opposition  to  this  school  by  those  who  adhered  entirely 
to  the  study  of  nature,  particularly  at  Naples,  where  they  determined  to  have 
recourse  to  poison  and  the  dagger  should  any  academic  painter  establish 
himself  there.  The  most  powerful  painter  of  this  school  —  called  the  Natur- 
alistic School  —  was  Caravaggio  (1569^1609),  whose  works  have  some  affinity 
with  those  of  Michelangelo,  and  give  proof  of  great  original  power  and  feeling 
28 


2l8 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


Ribera,  a  Spaniard,  who  ranks  with  Caravaggio ;  and  Salvator  Rosa 
(1615-1673),  a  naturah'stic  master,  who  painted  landscapes,  historical  sub- 
jects, and  genre  pictures,  and  also  excelled  in  portraits.  The  style  of  these 
naturalisti,  from  their  unselected  imitation  of  nature,  reflects  all  the  savage 
passion  and  dark  criminality  of  their  natures  :  the  violent  contrasts  of  light 
and  shade  are  perfectly  congenial  to  the  horrible  and  ghastly  scenes  of 
suffering,  murder,  and  robbery  which  they  delighted  to  represent.  This  school, 
as  well  as  that  of  the  Carracci,  exerted  a  powerful  influence  over  the  whole  of 
Europe.  The  similarity  in  the  temperament  of  the  Spaniards  and  Neapoli- 
tans will  readily  explain  why  this  style  prevailed  so  extensively  in  Spain. 

At  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  Pietro  Berettini  da  Cortona 
(i 596-1669),  in  spite  of  great  original  talent,  exercised  a  most  pernicious 
influence  on  Italian  art  by  the  introduction  in  his  works  of  startling  effects 
of  color  and  chiaro-oscuro,  which  were  studied  and  imitated,  thus  sealing  the 
fate  of  Italian  painting,  which  has  never  rallied  from  the  mannerism  int(5 
which  it  sank  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century.  As  a  contempo- 
rary of  the  Carracci  in  France,  we  have  Nicolas  Poussin  (i  594-1665),  the 
founder  of  what  is  called  the  heroic  style  of  landscape  painting.  He  excelled 
in  the  treatment  of  landscapes  and  classic  subjects,  and  exerted  a  most 
important  influence  upon  the  arts  of  his  country,  although  it  was  not  immedi- 
ately apparent  in  the  decorative,  theatrical  age  of  Louis  XIV,  or  the  heartless 
times  of  Louis  XV.  He  lived  almost  entirely  at  Rome.  Besides  the  excellence 
of  his  composition,  Poussin's  design  is  very  correct,  though  monotonous  from 
a  too  uniform  imitation  of  the  antique.  His  attitudes  are  frequently  theatrical. 
His  coloring  has  generally  a  brick-like  tone,  arising  from  the  darkened  red 
priming  showing  through,  and  his  red  and  blue  draperies  have  a  spotty  effect. 
In  landscape,  Poussin  holds  a  distinguished  place.  His  classical  compo- 
sitions have,  however,  little  in  common  with  contemporary  English  landscape 
art,  although  he  was  one  of  the  earliest  great  landscape  painters. 

His  pupil  Gasper  Dughet  (1630-1675),  the  great  landscape  painter,  is 
generally  known  as  Caspar  Poussin.  He  lived  and  painted  at  Rome. 
In  his  earlier  works  he  adopted  the  severe  forms  of  his  brother-in-law, 
but  a  more  genial  feeling  pervaded  many  of  his  later  landscapes  ;  he  paid 
especial  attention  to  what  we  may  call  meteorological  rather  than  aerial  effects. 

Claude  Lorraine  (1600-1682),  though  inferior  in  power  to  Poussin,  is  more 
generally  admired  on  account  of  the  soft  brightness  of  his  pleasing  landscapes, 
which  attract  the  most  superficial  lover  of  beautiful  scenery.  His  effects  of 
sunlight,  his  general  treatment  of  aerial  perspective,  and  his  rendering  of 
calm  water,  are  still  unrivalled,  except  perhaps  by  Turner,  with  whom  he  is 
considered  to  have  some  affinity ;  but  he  never  rose  to  the  ideal  or  produced 
anything  of  really  vital  power. 

Eustache  Lesueur  (161 7-1 655)  is  the  greatest  master  who  can  be  strictly 
claimed  as  French  ;  yet,  though  he  never  went  to  Rome,  he  is  one  of  the  most 
Italian  of  French  painters.  He  approached  Raphael  perhaps  more  nearly 
than  any  of  his  Italian  imitators  in  the  character  of  his  heads,  the  style  of  his 
compositions,  and  the  arrangement  of  his  draperies. 


Historic  Schools  of  Painting, 


219 


Charles  le  Brun  (1619-1690)  might  be  called  a  characteristic  exponent  of  the 
spirit  of  his  times.  War  and  tumult  are  the  elements  of  his  style.  He  studied 
at  Rome  under  Poussin,  and  made  the  Carracci  his  models  ;  he  showed  great 
vigor,  but  little  real  taste  and  less  refinement  of  sentiment  in  his  works. 

In  the  seventeenth  century,  in  England, we  find  Nicholas  Hillard  (1574-1619) 
Isaac  Oliver  (1556-1617),  and  Samuel  Cooper  (1609-1672),  distinguished 
miniature  painters  ;  and  contemporary  with  the  latter  are  George  Jameson 
(1586-1644),  called  the  Scottish  Vandyke,  who  was  a  fellow-pupil  with  Van- 
dyke in  the  school  of  Rubens  ;  Robert  Walker  (1600-1660)  and  William  Dob- 
son  (1616-1664),  who  were  both  successful  portrait  painters,  but  little  inferior 
to  Vandyke. 

During  the  seventeenth  century  some  of  the  most  eminent  painters  of 
Europe  visited  England,  among  whom  were  Rubens,  Vandyke,  and  a  great 
many  others. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  we  notice  a  revival  of  painting 
in  the  North,  characterized  by  a  return  to  the  realism  of  the  Van  Eycks,  com- 
bined with  something  of  Venetian  breadth,  great  harmony  of  coloring,  knd 
general  balance  of  tone.  The  first  great  master  of  this  new  development  was 
Peter  Paul  Rubens  (i 577-1640),  who  brought  about  a  complete  reform  in 
Flemish  painting.  Rubens'  great  distinction  is  his  extraordinary  mastery  of 
his  materials.  He  excelled  in  coloring,  brilliant  execution,  fertility  of  imagina- 
tion, and  vitality  of  expression  ;  his  figures  are  often  coarse  and  lack  spiritual 
beauty,  especially  in  his  sacred  subjects.  He  spent  some  time  in  Italy,  where 
he  became,  not  the  pupil,  but  the  successful  rival  of  Paul  Veronese  and  Tin- 
toretto. What  has  been  said  of  Michelangelo  in  form,  may  be  said  of 
Rubens  in  color.  As  the  one  came  to  Nature  and  moulded  her  to  his  generic 
form,  the  other  came  to  Nature  and  tinged  her  with  his  color,  —  the  color  of 
gay  magnificence.  The  earlier  works  of  Rubens  are  the  best ;  his  later  works 
are  more  mannered.  His  larger  works  are  remarkable  for  the  boldness  with 
which  pure  colors  are  placed  side  by  side,  and  left  to  be  blended  by  distance. 
Of  his  numerous  scholars,  Anthony  Vandyke  (i  599-1641)  is  the  greatest.  He 
is  chiefly  distinguished  as  a  portrait  painter,  and  in  this  branch  is  inferior  to 
Titian  only  in  color  and  solidity  of  effect :  he  excelled  Rubens  in  spiritual 
beauty,  in  elevation  of  sentiment  and  refinement  of  execution.  Besides  his 
portraits,  he  executed  many  historical  pictures,  some  of  which  are  works  of  the 
highest  merit.  In  individuality,  in  attitude,  and  in  costume,  he  leaves  nothing 
to  be  desired  ;  in  drawing  and  management  of  light  and  shade,  he  is  equally 
excellent.  None  of  Vandyke's  pupils  attained  the  high  excellence  or  great 
reputation  of  their  master, 

Philippe  de  Champagne,  a  successful  landscape  and  portrait  painter  of  this 
century,  is  claimed  alike  by  the  French  and  Flemish  schools.  His  landscapes 
are  characterized  by  poetic  feeling,  force  of  coloring,  and  tenderness  of 
chiaro-oscuro,  and  his  portraits  by  truth  to  nature,  individuality  of  character, 
and  general  harmony  of  tone. 

At  the  same  time,  in  almost  the  same  place,  arose  another  school,  different 
from  the  Flemish  or  from  that  of  Rubens,  and  dependent  upon  the  elabora- 


220 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


tion  of  only  a  single  element  in  art,  —  that  of  tone,  or  light  and  shade.  The 
founder  of  this  school  was  Paul  Rembrandt  (1608- 1669),  the  most  attractive  and 
original  of  painters.  Of  all  the  schools  of  coloring,  that  of  Rembrandt  is  the 
most  studied,  —  the  least  apparently  natural,  though  perfectly  so.  In  every- 
thing but  form,  he  is  perhaps  the  most  original  and  creative  genius  among 
painters.  The  striking  effects  of  Rembrandt  are  obtained  by  concentration 
of  light,  contrasted  with  large  masses  of  shadow,  which  are  broken  up  with 
the  utmost  subtilty  of  graduated  shade  and  reflected  light.  Tone,  and  the 
giving  of  roundness  to  individual  objects,  was  understood  by  Da  Vinci  and 
Correggio,  but  the  style  of  Rembrandt  is  made  up  of  effects  and  contrasts 
created  instantaneously,  his  color  depending  upon  contrast,  not  on  any  positive 
degree  of  its  own.  This  style  required  great  knowledge  and  command  over 
materials  :  the  tone  and  harmony  of  Correggio,  on  the  other  hand,  are  the 
result  of  patient  elaboration,  and  perfect  command  of  the  tools  or  instruments 
of  art,  which  may  be  obtained  with  only  a  moderate  knowledge  of  the  laws 
and  means  of  coloring.  With  Rembrandt,  light  and  shade  was  color.  He 
had  many  pupils  and  imitators. 

Of  the  numerous  genre  painters  of  this  century,  David  Teniers  (1610- 
1694)  holds  the  highest  rank.  His  father  is  considered  the  founder  of 
the  great  Belgian  school  of  genre  painting.  He  was  not  only  the  best 
delineator  of  his  day  of  the  manners  and  customs  of  his  contemporaries 
in  every  rank,  but  the  greatest  genre  painter  of  any  period  ;  the  char- 
acteristics of  his  style  are  force,  harmonious  balance  of  grouping,  del- 
icate execution  of  details,  a  spirited  arrangement  of  figures,  and  a  keen 
and  irrepressible  spirit  of  humor,  breaking  out  at  every  turn.  As  great 
contemporaries  of  Teniers,  we  have  Peter  Breughel  (i  529-1 569)  and  his 
two  sons.  Teniers  had  many  scholars  and  imitators,  none  of  whom  attained 
the  distinctive  excellence  of  this  great  leader  of  gem'-e  painting.  Landscape 
painting  also  received  much  attention  in  the  North  during  this  century.  The 
impulse  communicated  generally  to  landscape  painting  originated  in  the  Italian 
school  of  the  Carracci,  but  is  fully  apparent  also  in  the  finely-composed  and 
classical  landscapes  of  Nicholas  Poussin,  the  stormy  and  aerial  effects  of 
Caspar  Poussin,  and  in  the  serene  beauty  and  sunshine  of  Claude  Lorraine, 

The  end  of  the  seventeenth  and  the  whole  of  the  eighteenth  century  were 
marked  by  a  rapid  decline  in  the  art  of  painting,  both  in  Belgium  and  Hol- 
land, and  not  until  the  present  century  do  we  find  any  definite  or  important 
revival.  In  Germany,  in  the  eighteenth  century,  we  find  a  tendency  to  copy 
French  rather  than  Italian  work. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  painting  in  France  had  greatly 
declined  in  power,  and  had  become  little  more  than  a  means  of  glorification  of 
the  favorites  of  the  hour.  From  this  degraded  position  it  was  rescued  by  the 
genius  of  Anthony  Watteau  (1684-1721),  who  stands  at  the  head  of  the  school 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  —  which  maybe  characterized  as  purely  national, — 
and  may  be  said  to  have  influenced  not  only  the  style  of  all  later  French  masters, 
but  also  that  of  the  British  school.  Watteau  excelled  in  technical  execution, 
truth  of  character,  and  easy  grace  of  design  ;  in  general  effect  of  color,  he  was  a 
miniature  Paul  Veronese.    He  confined  his  practice  to  minor  subjects,  yet  had 


Historic  Schools  of  Painting. 


221 


many  imitators.  The  works  of  Boucher  (i 704-1 770)  show  all  the  faults  of  the 
French  school,  without  the  beauty  of  finish,  grace,  and  truth  of  those  of  Wat- 
teau ;  as  mere  pieces  of  decorative  painting,  his  works  are  generally  beau- 
tiful, but  his  forms  and  coloring  are  wholly  factitious.  His  influence  was 
corruptive.  Greuze  (1725-1805),  despite  enamelled  surface  and  a  certain  taint 
of  conventionality,  is  deservedly  a  favorite,  in  virtue  of  the  simple  homeliness 
of  his  themes  and  his  careful  study  of  nature.  He  is  well  known  for  his  genre 
pictures,  which  are  often  engraved,  and  for  his  beautiful  female  heads.  Another 
artist  of  this  school  was  Francois  Lemoine  (1688-1 737). 

At  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  beginning  of  the  nineteenth,  an 
attempt  to  revive  the  so-called  classic  manner  of  painting  in  France,  was  made 
by  David  and  his  followers. 

On  the  death  of  Velasquez  and  Murillo,  although  they  formed  many  pupils, 
painting  in  Spain  sensibly  declined.  Throughout  the  eighteenth  century  not 
a  single  artist  of  note  arose  in  Spain. 

From  long-continued  neglect  of  using  any  means  for  fostering  native 
talent,  art  in  England  had  sunk  about  this  time  to  apparently  the  lowest 
point  to  which  it  can  descend  in  a  civilized  nation  ;  but  with  the  Georges  a 
new  era  dawned  :  at  least  foreign  immigration  was  checked  by  finding  that 
the  market  was  forestalled  by  Englishmen,  with  whom  they  could  not  compete. 

In  the  eighteenth  century  we  meet  with  Jonathan  Richardson  (i 665-1 745), 
one  of  the  best  informed  and  soundest  of  critics  in  the  whole  province  of  art. 
The  manner  which  prevailed  in  England  at  this  time  was  a  sort  of  third 
edition  of  Vandyke.  Sir  James  Thornhill  (1676-1734)  was  distinguished  for 
his  decorations,  which  deserve  recognition  as  leading  more  or  less  directly 
to  the  great  movement  headed  by  Hogarth,  which  raised  native  art  to  so 
high  a  position  in  the  eighteenth  century.  William  Hogarth  (1697-1764)  is 
the  first  great  name  in  the  annals  of  British  art.  He  divides  with  Reynolds 
the  honor  of  having  founded  the  English  school  of  painting ;  he  was  in  every 
respect  a  reformer,  and  was  the  first  to  break  loose  from  the  insipid  imitation 
of  second-rate  Italian  painting  which  prevailed  in  his  day;  he  originated  a 
purely  national  style,  rescuing  painting  from  its  tame  and  lifeless  attempts  at 
high  art,  and  employing  it  as  a  language  to  reform  the  manners  of  his  time. 
In  his  best  examples,  he  belongs  to  the  Irigh^st  genre  painters. 

Viewed  merely  as  works  of  art,  his  paintings,  though  characterized  by 
force  if  not  correctness  of  drawing,  and  by  marvellous  dramatic  and  inventive 
power,  may  perhaps  be  justly  charged  with  being  wanting  in  sense  of  beauty 
and  refinement  and  feeling  for  color  ;  but  as  moral  engines  for  bringing  vividly 
before  men  the  inevitable  results  of  crime  and  wrong-doing,  they  are  abso- 
lutely unrivalled.  In  technical  execution  and  general  manner  they  betray 
French  influence,  especially  that  of  VVatteau  ;  in  dramatic  force  and  originality 
they  are  distinctively  English.  His  works,  aside  from  their  extraordinary  orig- 
inality, are  filled  with  wonderful  satirical  and  humorous  invention.  "  Hogarth," 
says  Walpole,  "had  no  model  to  follow  and  improve  upon.  He  created  his 
art.  and  used  color  instead  of  language.  His  place  is  between  the  Italians, 
whom  we  may  consider  as  epic  poets  and  tragedians,  and  the  Flemish  paint- 
ers, whom  we  may  rank  as  writers  of  farces  and  editors  of  burlesque  nature. 


222 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


His  was  the  period  of  the  revival  of  painting  in  England  in  every  department 
of  art,  and  the  brightest  names  in  the  annals  of  English  painting  were  his  con- 
temporaries,— Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  Gainsborough,  Wilson,  Copley,  and  West. 

Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  (1723-1792)  was  the  first  President  of  the  Royal 
Academy,  which  was  founded  under  the  auspices  of  George  III.  He  was 
one  of  the  greatest  English  portrait  painters.  His  works  are  characterized 
by  simplicity,  beauty,  truth  of  coloring,  easy  grace  of  execution,  and  a  singu- 
lar originality  of  invention.  He  endeavored  to  unite  the  best  methods  of  the 
Flemish  and  Venetian  masters  ;  but  his  practice  usually  inclined,  hke  that  of 
the  English  school  generally,  to  the  traditions  of  the  former.  In  general 
force  of  effect  he  resembled  Rembrandt,  of  whom  he  was  a  great  admirer, 
and  in  breadth  of  chiaro-oscuro  and  coloring  in  his  best  works,  he  showed 
some  affinity  with  Titian,  Giorgione,  and  Velasquez ;  but  in  thoroughness  of 
finish  and  correctness  of  drawing  he  was  inferior  to  any  of  them.  In  merit, 
his  portraits  approach,  if  they  do  not  equal,  those  of  Vandyke  ;  his  fancy 
pictures  are  full  of  the  deepest  tenderness  or  the  brightest  spirit ;  and  his 
historical  and  sacred  subjects  are  often  grand  and  always  powerful.  Thomas 
Gainsborough  (i  728-1 788),  the  rival  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  in  portraiture,  and 
of  Wilson  in  landscape,  is  a  master  of  whom  any  school  might  be  proud.  Sir 
Joshua  says  of  Gainsborough,  "  Whether  he  most  excelled  in  portraits, 
landscape,  or  fancy  pictures  it  is  difficult  to  determine."  His  works  are  char- 
acterized by  purity  of  feeling,  solemn  reverence  for  nature,  and  masterly 
treatment  of  aerial  perspective  ;  his  portraits  are  remarkable  for  grace  and 
delicacy  and  a  peculiar  lightness  of  touch,  which  has  been  much  criticised, 
the  effect  being  produced  by  an  infinite  number  of  slight  lines,  technically 
called  hatching.  In  Gainsborough  the  sweet  innocence  of  childhood,  the 
tender  beauty  of  maidenhood,  and  the  intellectual  grace  of  Enghsh  gentlemen 
and  gentlewomen,  found  their  first  English  exponent. 

Richard  Wilson  (1713-1782)  began  life  as  a  portrait  painter,  but  attained 
his  greatest  excellence  in  landscape  painting.  His  compositions  are  grandly 
conceived,  though  sometimes  inaccurately  carried  out ;  he  caught  the  broad 
lineaments  of  nature,  reproducing  her  grand  outlines  and  massive  effects 
with  boldness,  force,  and  skill  in  composition,  but  he  failed  to  render  the 
tender  gradations  of  color  and  chiaro-oscuro  which  characterize  her  gentle 
moods,  or  to  give  the  detail  of  landscape  with  faithfulness. 

With  Wilson  may  be  mentioned,  as  contemporaries  of  Reynolds  and  Gains- 
borough, George  Barrett  (1728-1784)  and  Julius  Ibbetson  (1759-1817),  both 
landscape  painters.  Contemporary  with  these  men  was  a  group  of  painters 
who  endeavored  to  introduce  an  ideal  style  of  historical  painting  in  England, 
and  deserve  mention  not  so  much  for  their  success  or  talents,  which  were 
but  moderate,  as  for  the  steadfastness  with  which  they  pursued  their  aim,  in 
spite  of  the  discouragement  which  they  met  with  on  every  side.  The  most 
prominent  of  this  group  are  Benj.  West  (1738-1820),  James  Barry  (1741-1846), 
and  John  S.  Copley  (i 739-1 815)- 

At  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  art  of  water-color  painting, 
properly  so  called,  was  first  practised  in  England. 


Charcoal  Drawing, 


223 


XXX. 

CHARCOAL  DRAWING. 

In  the  use  of  the  lead  pencil  and  crayons,  and  of  water  colors  and  sepia, 
as  well  as  of  India  ink,  both  with  the  pen  and  with  the  brush,  you  have  already 
had  some  experience.  It  is  now  proposed  that  you  shall  have  a  short  course 
of  lessons  in  the  use  of  charcoal. 

The  properties  of  this  material  are  sufficiently  illustrated  by  the  drawings 
hung  upon  the  screen,  comprising  studies  from  life  and  from  the  cast,  land- 
scapes, drawings  of  flowers,  and  some  elementary  studies,  such  as  vases, 
bunches  of  fruit,  and  these  colossal  ears.  You  perceive  at  once  that  this 
material  is  distinguished  by  great  range  of  tone,  the  intensest  black  and  the 
most  delicate  gray,  hardly  distinguishable  from  white,  being  equally  at  com- 
mand ;  this  quality,  however,  is  also  possessed  by  the  crayon  when  combined 
with  the  stump.  On  the  other  hand,  the  sharp,  fine,  hard  line  which  the  crayon 
so  easily  produces  can  hardly  be  made  with  a  bit  of  charcoal.  But  charcoal 
gives  a  broad  tint  of  whatever  depth,  either  graduated  or  quite  even  and  flat, 
quicker  than  anything  and  better  than  anything,  except  perhaps  a  brush  full 
of  color,  and  in  one  respect  it  is  unrivalled.  Its  effects  are  not  only  the  easi- 
est and  quickest  in  the  making,  they  are  the  easiest  to  remove :  a  strong 
breath  will  blow  a  drawing  in  charcoal  almost  entirely  away.  This  would  be 
a  serious  obstacle  to  its  use  were  it  not  practicable,  when  a  drawing  is  done, 
to  fix  it,  as  we  say,  by  the  use  of  a  little  shellac  dissolved  in  alcohol,  either 
soaking  the  back  of  the  drawing  or  scattering  this  preparation  in  spray  over 
its  face.  Meantime,  the  facility  with  which  the  charcoal  can  be  removed  is 
a  signal  advantage,  as  it  permits  of  change  and  correction  at  every  stage  of 
the  work,  and  encourages  a  much  bolder  procedure  in  its  earlier  and  simpler 
stages  than  would  otherwise  be  wise  or  safe.  The  reflected  lights,  for  instance, 
do  not  need  to  be  "  left,"  but  can  Ife  put  in,  or  rather  wiped  out,  whenever  the 
work  has  reached  the  stage  at  which  their  consideration  is  in  order. 

For  work,  then,  in  which  broad,  flat  shades  are  to  be  produced,  and  for  that 
especially  in  which  it  is  proposed  to  make  essential  changes  after  it  is  well 
under  way,  charcoal  is  peculiarly  adapted  ;  it  is,  that  is  to  say,  just  the  thing 
to  use  for  a  drawing  in  which  you  propose  to  begin  by  putting  in  the  principal 
effects  broadly  and  simply,  leaving  the  details  to  be  added  at  a  later  stage  of 
the  work. 


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Now,  you  will  observe  that  each  of  the  other  materials  enumerated  has  also 
a  special  kind  of  work  for  which  it  is  best  fitted  and  which  is  in  common  par- 
lance almost  identified  with  it.  It  is  generally  understood,  for  instance,  that 
the  use  of  the  lead  pencil  or  sepia  implies  sketches  on  a  small  scale  ;  the  crayon 
suggests  full-size  drawings  from  the  cast  or  from  the  human  figure,  and  India 
ink  implies  architectural  or  engineering  work, with  carefully  graduated  shades 
and  shadows.  In  like  manner,  when  we  speak  of  charcoal  drawing  we  gen- 
erally understand  the  method  of  going  to  work  which  I  have  just  now  indi- 
cated as  being  that  for  which  charcoal  is  especially  fit,  beginning,  that  is,  with 
broad,  flat  shades,  considering  first  the  main  features  of  the  object  to  be 
represented,  and  omitting  all  details  until,  in  the  gradual  advancement  of  the 
work,  their  introduction  becomes  necessary.  This  method  of  work  can  of 
course  also  be  followed,  in  a  measure,  with  any  other  material,  though  some- 
what less  conveniently,  since  with  almost  every  other  material  except  oil 
paints  the  "  lights  "  have  to  be  carefully  kept  from  the  outset ;  the  employment 
of  this  method,  however,  wherever  and  so  far  as  the  material  used  will  permit, 
presents  some  advantages  which  it  is  worth  the  while  to  point  out.  I  will 
accordingly  say  no  more  about  charcoal,  leaving  it  to  commend  itself  to  your 
approbation  by  the  brilliancy  of  its  effects  and  the  ease  with  which  they  are 
produced,  and  will  devote  the  rest  of  the  time  set  apart  for  this  discourse  to  the 
consideration  of  the  method  of  drawing  with  which  charcoal  is  identified,  —  that 
of  beginning  a  work  with  broad,  flat  lights  and  shades,  leaving  the  half  shades 
and  reflected  lights  and  all  other  means  of  expressing  the  details  of  form 
until  its  later  stages. 

I.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  in  omitting  the  details  in 
the  representation  of  any  surface  and  expressing  its  general  tone,  that  is  to 
say,  the  average  amount  of  illumination  it  receives,  by  a  broad,  flat  tint,  we 
necessarily  make  it  appear  as  a  plane  surface.  An  object  of  complicated 
form,  then,  such  as  this  sitting  figure,  this  bunch  of  fruit  and  leaves,  or  this 
mask  of  Jupiter,  appears  to  be  bounded  by  plane  surfaces,  and  if  a  strict  con- 
sistency is  preserved,  as  is  done  in  some  of  them,  these  planes,  which  cor- 
respond to  the  main  divisions  of  the  surface,  intersect  at  their  edges  in 
straight  lines,  corresponding  to  the  main  ridges  which  determine  its  form. 
The  outline  also,  which  in  the  object  is  a  succession  of  curved  fines  rounding 
into  each  other,  becomes  a  succession  of  straight  lines  meeting  in  angles 
more  or  less  obtuse.  At  this  stage,  in  fact,  the  drawing,  as  you  see,  resem- 
bles not  so  much  the  finished  statue  from  which  it  is  made  as  one  of  its 
earlier  stages,  when  the  sculptor  had  got  so  far  as  to  determine  the  main 
movement  of  his  figure  and  fix  the  relation  of  its  principal  surfaces,  but  had 
not  begun  to  render  the  more  delicate  characteristics  of  its  form.  This  first 
stage  of  the  drawing  is  indeed  called  blocking  out,  as  if  the  draughtsman, 
too,  were  rough-hewing  his  block  into  a  polygonal,  or  rather  polyedral,  figure. 

You  will  observe  in  the  examples  before  you,  although  they  all  illustrate 
this  general  method,  a  considerable  difference  of  procedure.  In  these  vases, 
for  instance,  the  actual  contour  of  the  object  is  carefully  drawn,  with  all  its 
delicacy  of  curve,  while  the  body  of  the  vase  is  put  in  quite  flat,  as  if  it  were 


Charcoal  Drawing. 


225 


a  plane  surface.  The  study  and  rendering  of  the  outline  has  outstripped 
that  of  the  shading.  In  this  figure  of  a  monk,  however,  one  of  a  set  of 
famous  sculptures  from  the  tombs  of  the  Dukes  of  Burgundy  at  Dijon,  you 
see  that  the  treatment  is  rather  more  consistent,  the  shading  and  outline 
showing  about  the  same  amount  of  elaboration.  This  seems  theoretically 
preferable,  but  the  other  is  thought  by  some  teachers  to  have  practical 
advantages.  Another  difference  is  that  in  some  of  the  examples,  as  in  this 
head  of  Jupiter,  all  the  principal  divisions  of  the  face,  all  the  principal  planes, 
that  is,  are  indicated  by  as  many  different  tints  or  shades.  This  tiger's  head, 
on  the  other  hand,  like  the  vase  we  were  just  looking  at,  is  drawn  in  only  two 
tints,  all  the  light  side  being  left  white,  or  the  color  of  the  paper,  and  all  the 
dark  side  being  covered  with  a  single  flat  shade.  These,  however,  we  may 
regard  rather  as  showing  the  successive  steps  in  the  process  of  blocking-out 
than  as  two  different  ways  of  going  to  work,  the  first  step  being  to  distinguish 
the  light  part  from  the  dark  part,  and  the  next  to  break  up  each  into  the 
various  planes  of  which  it  consists.  Wherever  the  light  is  at  all  concen- 
trated, this  Hne  of  demarcation  between  the  light  side  and  the  dark  side  —  the 
dividing  line  of  light  and  shade,  as  we  call  it  — is  generally  sufficiently  dis- 
tinct to  permit  of  its  being  pretty  accurately  defined,  —  accurately  enough,  at 
any  rate,  for  the  temporary  and  provisional  purpose  it  has  to  serve.  But 
sometimes,  when  the  light  is  not  very  strong,  three  tints  instead  of  two,  as  in 
the  case  of  this  monk  from  Amiens,  sitting  and  reading  his  book,  are  as  few 
as  one  can  comfortably  get  along  with,  even  at  the  beginning. 

II.  The  object  being  thus  blocked  out,  its  outlines  approximately  deter- 
mined, its  principal  planes  discriminated  and  indicated,  each  in  its  own  shape 
and  size,  and,  what  is  equally  important,  each  of  its  own  value,  meaning  by 
this  its  proper  degree  of  light  or  shade, —  the  first  stages  of  the  process  being 
thus  accomplished,  we  next  follow  in  each  of  the  subdivisions  thus 
established  a  similar  procedure.  Each  plane  surface,  with  its  bounding 
lines,  is  re-examined  and  broken  up  into  minor  planes  corresponding  to  the 
lesser  divisions  of  the  form,  each  differing  in  value  from  its  neighbors,  or  the 
eye  could  not  distinguish  it  from  them,  but  only  slightly  differing  and  not  so 
as  to  disturb  the  general  tone  already  established  ;  and  as  the  subdivisions 
multiply  and  the  planes  differ  less  and  less  in  position,  the  contrasted  tints, 
of  course,  differ  less  and  less,  the  angles  at  the  ridges  becoming  at  last 
so  obtuse  as  not  to  be  noticed.  The  lines  in  like  manner,  both  those  defin- 
ing the  contour  and  those  which  mark  the  chief  ridges  of  the  surface,  are 
refined  and  corrected,  but  not  so  as  to  lose  their  subordination  to  the  main 
movement  already  established.  And  so  this  process  goes  on,  the  work,  as  it 
advances,  embodying  the  results  of  a  more  exact  observation,  a  more  ex- 
haustive analysis,  a  more  minute  acquaintance  with  the  form,  as  it  proceeds 
from  generals  to  particulars,  from  the  representation  of  the  principal  char- 
acteristics by  broad  masses  of  light  and  shade  and  vigorous  though  only 
approximate  outlines,  to  the  delineation  of  the  sn^allest  details  of  surface  or 
contour  which  the  purpose  of  the  work  makes  desirable  or  the  skill  of  the 
draughtsman  makes  practicable.  The  development  of  the  Avork  proceeds,  in 
29 


226 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


fact,  as  the  philosophers  would  say,  by  successive  differentiation,  passing  at 
each  stage  of  its  progress  from  a  more  homogeneous  condition  to  one  of 
greater  heterogeneity. 

All  this  can,  of  course,  happen  only  in  cases  where  the  surface  to  be  rep- 
resented is  really  a  broken  surface.  In  a  continuous  surface,  like  that  of 
these  round  vases,  for  instance,  we  can  hardly  go  farther  in  this  process  than 
the  first  step,  the  discrimination  of  the  light  side  from  the  dark  side.  There 
is  no  complexity  of  form  to  investigate  ;  we  cannot  indicate  subdivisions 
that  do  not  exist.  Unless,  then,  there  are  accidental  lights  or  shadows  to  be 
recognized,  the  only  thing  that  remains  to  be  done  is  to  graduate  the  tints, 
to  express  the  roundness.  Even  a  flat  surface,  a  geometrical  plane,  is  gen- 
erally lighter  in  tone  in  one  part  than  in  another,  or  seems  to  be  so,  so  that 
even  here  it  may  be  best  to  graduate  the  tone.  Whether  in  any  given  case 
it  is  better  to  do  this  or  to  leave  the  plane  and  curved  surfaces  quite  flat  in 
the  drawing  depends  partly  on  the  degree  of  finish  aimed  at  and  partly 
upon  their  extent.  In  the  case  of  these  vases,  as  you  see,  it  is  done  with 
care  ;  but  in  the  human  face,  for  instance,  it  is  often  possible  to  reduce  it  ta 
elementary  snrfaces  so  small  that  they  may  be  left  quite  flat. 

There  is  danger,  too,  both  in  the  outline  and  in  the  shading,  if  this  idea 
of  finishing  up  by  rounding  the  forms  is  admitted,  that  it  will  be  resorted  to 
prematurely,  and  a  meretricious  smoothness  of  surface  take  the  place  of 
a  thorough  delineation  of  form.  There  is  danger  that  the  final  analysis  will 
be  dispensed  with.  I  think  you  will  understand  exactly  what  I  mean  if 
you  recall  to  mind  some  drawings  that  you  have  seen,  especially  stippled 
drawings  ;  for  the  process  of  stippling,  as  you  have  doubtless  experienced, 
offers  great  temptations  to  the  student  to  substitute  hand  work  for  head 
work,  careful  workmanship  for  careful  observation.  It  is  better  for  a  piece 
of  work  to  go  incomplete  than  to  pretend  to  be  more  highly  finished  than 
it  really  is. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  drawings  made  in  this  way,  although  even 
in  their  most  advanced  stage  avowedly  unfinished  and  far  short  of  an  ideal 
perfection,  are  yet  always,  in  a  certain  sense,  complete,  even  in  their  earliest 
condition.  Imperfect  as  are  most  of  the  drawings  before  you  (I  do  not 
now  speak  of  the  lack  of  skill  they  evince,  —  that  I  do  not  apologize  for : 
they  are  the  works  of  beginners,  made  during  their  first  week,  —  but  of 
their  imperfect  state  of  development,  most  of  them  not  having  been  car- 
ried beyond  the  very  first  stage  of  the  process),  primitive  and  rude  as  is 
the  means  employed  in  their  production,  they  are  still,  as  I  think  you  will 
agree,  in  a  certain  sense  sufficient.  They  tell  their  own  story,  they  give  the 
main  action  and  character  of  the  object  they  represent,  its  relation  to  its  sur- 
roundings, its  pictorial  quality  in  light  and  shade  ;  its  form,  its  total  effect,  its 
relation  to  the  background,  its  position  in  space  are  given,  —  not,  indeed, 
exhaustively,  but,  as  I  have  said,  completely,  as  far  as  they  go.  The  detail, 
both  of  the  outline  and  of  the  modelling,  is  omitted,  but  they  convey  a  chief 
part  of  the  impression  you  receive  from  the  presence  of  the  object  itself,  — 
pretty  much  everything,  in  fact,  that  you  get  at  the  first  glance.    To  get  the 


Charcoal  Drawing, 


227 


rest  is  worth  all  the  labor  and  skill  it  takes  to  carry  the  drawing  from  this 
early  stage  to  its  last  practicable  perfection.  But  even  as  it  stands,  it  is 
not  unsatisfactory. 

And  also,  as  I  have  said,  not  only  are  the  least  advanced  works  always,  in 
this  sense,  complete,  but  the  most  advanced  are  never,  in  any  proper  sense, 
finished.  When  this  process  of  development  has  gone  as  far  as  it  is  thought 
best,  for  any  reason,  to  carry  it,  —  and  it  is  never  worth  while  to  carry  it  into 
the  delineation  of  details  that  cannot  be  recognized  at  the  distance  from 
which  the  drawing  is  to  be  viewed,  —  then  the  process  stops,  and  the  drawing, 
still  unfinished  but  ever  complete,  is  done.  One  sometimes,  to  be  sure, 
witnesses  the  results  of  the  burnishing  process  that  have  I  spoken  of,  by  which 
the  drawing  is  gone  over  and  smoothed  up  by  way  of  finishing  off.  Some 
of  the  drawings  which  you  remember  to  have  lately  seen  at  the  rooms  of  the 
Art  Club,  made  in  accordance  with  the  method  I  am  describing,  seemed 
to  have  been  subjected  to  this  sort  of  polishing ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that 
this  is  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  method,  as  it  is  certainly  injurious  to  the 
vigor  and  character  of  the  result.  This  was  indeed  sufficiently  demonstrated 
by  a  comparison  of  these  drawings  with  others  at  their  side,  from  the  same 
admirable  school,  in  which,  on  a  close  examination,  the  sharp  edges  and  flat 
planes  could  be  discerned  even  in  the  softest  folds  of  the  draperies. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  the  treatment  of  outlines.  A  real  curve  must  be 
drawn  with  a  sweep  of  the  hand,  the  broken  line  first  put  in  serving  only  as  a 
rough  guide  ;  but  when  a  line  is  very  much  broken,  it  is  often  safer  and 
better,  after  resolving  it  into  its  elements,  to  leave  it  as  it  is,  even  at  the  risk 
of  a  little  angularity,  than  to  attempt  further  refinements  of  form.  Of  course 
it  is  well  to  improve  the  line,  if  you  can.  What  I  mean  is,  that  very  often 
you  can't,  and  that  it  is  better  to  let  it  remain  a  succession  of  straight  lines 
than  to  substitute  curved  lines,  which  pretend  to  be  more  accurate  but  are 
not. 

III.  So  much  for  the  method  of  procedure,  the  modus  operandi,  which, 
although  particularly  suited  to  charcoal,  is,  as  I  have  said,  practicable  in  a 
degree  with  almost  any  material ;  but  the  main  advantages  of  the  method 
are  independent  of  the  material  used,  and  consist  in  this,  —  that  it  is  conducive 
to  rapidity  of  work,  to  the  accuracy  and  artistic  quality  of  the  result,  and  to 
the  development  of  some  of  the  highest  qualities  of  the  draughtsman.  Let 
us  consider  these  points  in  succession. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  obviously  conducive  to  rapidity  of  execution ;  for 
a  good  share  of  the  work  is  achieved  at  once  by  the  simplest  and  most 
expeditious  means,  and  whatever  further  elaboration  the  drawing  receives 
finds  the  ground  already  prepared  for  it,  the  form  already  blocked  out,  so 
that  a  comparatively  trifling  labor  is  all  that  is  needed  to  make  the  correc- 
tions required.  That  this  rapidity  and  economy  of  time  and  patience  is  a 
good  thing,  that  in  these  pursuits  time  and  labor  are  worth  saving,  would 
hardly  need  to  be  insisted  upon,  but  that  it  sometimes  seems  to  be  thought 
that,  as  practice  makes  perfect,  the  more  time  and  labor  one  can  spend  on 
merely  disciplinary  work  the  better.    Let  me,  in  reply,  cite  the  opinion  of  a 


228 


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writer*  who,  in  an  atmosphere  sometimes  supposed  to  favor  a  mechanical 
and  treadmill  way  of  working,  eagerly  protests  against  this  idea,  urging  that 
labor  is  serviceable  as  discipline  only  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  thought 
put  into  it.  "  Educational  drawing,"  he  says,  "  should  be  looked  upon  as  the 
putting  on  paper  of  knowledge  of  facts  and  form  ;  every  line  should  be  an 
attempt  to  fix  and  record  the  result  of  intellectual  effort  and  comprehension. 
Masterly  drawing  is  the  result  of  knowledge."  "  It  is  lamentable  to  see  stu- 
dents taking  months  to  acquire  knowledge  which,  by  another  method,  could 
be  imparted  in  a  week.  '  Ars  longa,  vita  brevis  est,'  and  that  system  is  the 
best  by  which  the  student  gains  the  greatest  knowledge  in  the  shortest  time." 
And  again,  in  a  somewhat  different  connection,  *'  Not  only  does  rapidity 
enable  more  work  to  be  done,  but  the  multitude  of  works  affords  a  larger 
experience." 

In  the  second  place,  this  method  of  going  to  work  is  conducive  both 
to  the  accuracy  and  to  the  artistic  quality  of  the  result.  It  produces,  that 
is  to  say,  good  drawings,  drawings  exhibiting  both  these  indispensable  char- 
acteristics. Their  accuracy  in  all  that  concerns  the  main  movement  and 
essential  characteristics  of  form,  as  shown  by  the  distribution  of  the  main  masses 
of  light  and  shade,  is  indeed  secured  at  the  outset  by  concentrating  upon  these 
points  the  workman's  whole  attention  during  the  earlier  stages  of  the  work,  ab- 
stracting it  from  all  consideration  of  details.  These  details  are  often  so  con- 
spicuous and  so  interesting  that  one  can  only  prevent  their  engrossing  his 
attention  by  rigidly  and  systematically  refusing  to  see  them  until  the  main  forms 
have  been  disposed  of  And  as  each  of  these  details,  in  turn,  comes  up  for 
consideration,  a  substantial  accuracy  in  the  rendering  of  its  character  also  is 
almost  inevitable  :  the  groundwork  is  already  prepared,  as  we  have  seen,  and 
there  is  but  little  chance  of  going  astray  either  in  the  outline  or  in  the  model- 
ling, where  the  range  is  thus  limited,  and  where,  within  that  range,  there  is  so 
little  to  do. 

But  the  most  important  thing,  in  a  pictorial  point  of  view,  and  at  the  same 
time  the  most  difficult  thing  of  all  to  observe  and  to  render  with  fidelity,  is 
not  the  shape  of  each  different  mass  of  light  or  shade,  but  its  value,  meaning 
thereby,  as  I  have  explained,  its  intensity  of  light  or  shade  relatively  to  the 
surfaces  about  it  and  to  the  background  against  which  they  are  all  relieved. 
This  varies,  of  course,  according  as  a  surface  is  more  or  less  turned  towards 
direct  or  reflected  light,  as  it  is  intrinsically  darker  or  lighter  in  hue,  and  as  it 
is  more  or  less  obscured  by  the  illuminated  air  interposed  between  it  and  the 
eye.  The  apparent  value  of  any  surface,  the  relative  amount  of  light  it  sends  to 
the  eye  depends,  that  is  to  say,  on  the  degree  of  illumination  it  receives,  on  its 
power  of  absorbing  or  reflectmg  light,  and  on  what  we  call  aerial  perspective 
or  the  modifying  effect  of  the  intervening  atmosphere.  The  expression,  then, 
of  form,  color,  and  distance  depends  mainly  upon  the  accurate  rendering  of 
the  relations  of  value  ;  it  is  indeed  almost  the  whole  of  drawing,  —  only  the 
consummate  master  can  render  it  well.    But  under  the  method  we  are 


*  See  Lectures  and  Lessons  on  Art,"  by  F.  W.  Moody,  Instructor  in  Decorative  Art  at  the  South 
Kensington  Museum.   London.  1873. 


Charcoal  Drawing, 


229 


describing,  it  becomes  comparatively  easy  to  render,  first,  because  the  shape 
and  tone  of  the  tints  is  the  chief  and  only  point  of  interest,  from  which 
attention  is  never  diverted  by  questions  of  detail ;  and  secondly,  because  in 
all  the  successive  stages  of  its  development,  from  the  first  rough  blocking 
out  to  the  last  touch  which  it  is  thought  worth  while  to  give,  all  parts  of  the 
work  are  advanced  simultaneously,  so  that  it  is  comparatively  easy  to  judge 
whether  their  relations  to  each  other  are  properly  preserved.  An  accurate 
rendering  of  values  is  indeed  almost  impossible  to  secure  except  by  working 
all  over  a  drawing  at  once,  developing  the  whole  simultaneously,  as  a  whole. 

All  that  has  just  been  said,  and  indeed  everything  that  can  be  said  of  this 
method  of  looking  at  things,  applies  with  special  force  to  the  study  and  rep- 
resentation of  landscape.  The  omission  of  details  is  indeed  here  a  necessity; 
and  the  most  that  can  be  done  with  any  material  is  to  indicate,  by  a  care- 
ful study  of  the  values  of  different  objects,  their  form,  color,  and  relative 
distance. 

And  this  method  of  work  is  obviously  favorable  not  only  to  rapidity  and 
to  the  accuracy  of  the  drawings  produced,  but  to  their  artistic  character. 
That  they  should  be  strong  and  vigorous,  and  that  they  should  have  a  certain 
unity  of  purpose,  would  naturally  follow  from  the  amount  of  headwork  put 
into  them.  The  discriminating  observation  of  the  facts  before  him,  the  sharp 
analysis  of  their  relations,  the  definite  judgment  what  to  do  and  what  not  to 
do,  which  this  method  forces  upon  the  workman,  would  suffice  to  secure  unity 
and  vigor.  But  it  is  not  these  that  I  have  in  mind  in  speaking  of  artistic 
qualities.  Accuracy  does  not  make  a  drawing  a  work  of  art,  nor  even  do 
unity  and  vigor  of  treatment.  What  makes  a  work  of  art  is  the  purpose  that 
gives  it  birth,  the  feeling  that  informs  it,  the  artist's  interest  in  what  he 
represents.  Now,  this  interest,  this  feeling,  this  purpose,  exhibits  itself  in 
drawing,  as  in  speech,  by  emphasis.  The  draughtsman  —  the  artist,  rather  — 
accentuates  the  point  he  cares  most  about  and  which  he  wishes  to  urge,  to 
force  even,  upon  the  attention  and  admiration  of  others,  and  slights,  subor- 
dinates, omits  every  detail  that  is  irrelevant  to  his  purpose  or  which 
threatens  to  interfere  with  it.  The  more  eager  and  in  earnest  he  is,  —  the 
more  artistic,  that  is,  his  work  is,  —  the  more  is  he  disposed  to  attend  first  of 
all  and  chiefly  to  the  main  movement,  the  essential  and  characteristic  features, 
the  total  effect,  and  to  subordinate  the  accessories,  openly  omitting  what  is 
really  accidental  and  irrelevant ;  the  more  disposed,  that  is,  to  follow  just 
such  a  method  as  the  one  I  have  described,  attending  to  the  masses  first  and 
to  the  details  afterwards. 

This  has  in  fact  been  the  method  of  almost  all  schools  from  Raphael 
down.  It  is  sometimes  called  the  French  method,  because  the  French  are 
at  the  present  moment  the  most  conspicuous  in  its  use,  and  have  indeed 
devised  materials,  such  as  charcoal  and  the  stump,  particularly  adapted  to  it ; 
but  the  method  itself  .is  as  independent  of  nationality  as  it  is  of  material. 
Artists  have  everywhere  in  every  country  adopted  it.  I  do  not  mean  that 
they  have  proceeded  to  make  drawings  exactly  in  this  or  that  way,  but  that 
they  have  given  their  attention  first  to  their  main  masses  and  main  move- 


230 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


ment,  considering  other  things  as  secondary  and  letting  them  fall  into  place 
as  they  were  wanted,  and  have  worked  on  that  idea.  So  long  as  one  does 
this,  so  long  as  he  gives  his  masses  the  first  place  in  his  mind,  it  is  a  mere 
matter  of  convenience  whether  he  does  his  work  one  way  or  another.  For 
beginners  it  is  essential  to  develop  their  work  step  by  step  in  the  order  of 
their  thought ;  but  a  master  may  of  course  work  as  he  likes,  and,  if  he  can, 
finish  up  as  he  goes  along,  inch  by  inch,  as  Stuart  is  said  to  have  done, 
for  it  is  the  course  of  thought,  not  the  course  of  the  work,  that  is  the 
important  thing,  —  the  habit  of  mind,  not  the  mechanical  process.  It  is  not 
because  this  method  involves  a  more  efficient  manipulation  that  it  is 
approved,  but  because  it  involves  a  more  intelligent  and  efficient  attitude  of 
the  mind.  To  attend  first  to  essentials  and  to  let  unessentials  wait  or  go  by 
altogether,  involves  a  larger  way  of  looking  at  things,  a  more  comprehensive 
observation,  and  fosters  a  habit  of  regarding  things  in  the  mass  and  in  their 
entirety.  If  this  is  done,  it  is  a  mere  matter  of  convenience,  a  question  of 
personal  skill  on  the  part  of  the  artist,  whether  he  puts  down  all  his  thoughts 
or  not. 

Finally,  this  attitude  of  mind  and  the  method  of  work  to  which  it  gives 
shape,  and  which  in  turn  tends  to  render  it  habitual,  is  obviously  conducive 
to  the  development  of  some  of  the  best  qualities  of  the  draughtsman.  To 
learn  to  see  things  as  they  really  are,  not  in  their  accidents  and  their  details 
but  in  their  essentials,  and  even  in  temporary  and  accidental  effects  to  seize 
the  essential  element  of  the  effect,  is  just  what  the  artist  of  every  kind  most 
needs  to  learn.  It  is  this  discriminating  perception  that  distinguishes  the 
real  artist,  not  a  mechanical  facility  of  hand  or  a  mechanical  accuracy  of 
eye.  The  child  who,  when  first  shown  a  picture  by  Titian,  exclaimed,  "  Why, 
he  sees  things  just  as  I  do ! "  showed  her  friends  that  she  was  not  only  a 
prodigy  of  talent,  which  they  knew  already,  but  that  she  had  the  artistic  per- 
ception which  is  the  soul  of  a  painter.  This  power,  although,  like  every 
other,  existing  in  different  persons  in  different  degrees,  may,  like  every  other, 
be  developed  and  strengthened  by  exercise.  It  is  not  the  least  of  the  claims 
of  the  method  of  drawing  under  consideration  that  it  not  only  exercises  the 
powers  of  attention  and  analysis  and  judgment,  but  that  it  incites  the  artist 
to  let  his  mind  float  freely  over  the  whole  surface  of  things,  as  Mr.  Arnold 
might  say,  and,  neglecting  the  obvious  and  obtrusive  details  that  are  so  likely 
to  entrap  the  attention,  to  enter  into  their  real  spirit  and  character. 

IV.  You  may  be  disposed,  perhaps,  to  think  that  all  this  may  be  true  enough, 
and  important  for  painters,  but  that  it  is  not  important  for  you  ;  that  these 
considerations  relate  to  high  art,  not  to  the  more  modest  paths  of  industrial 
or  decorative  art  which  you  and  your  pupils  are  to  follow  ;  that  it  will  be  time 
enough  to  think  of  these  things  when  some  special  talents  are  manifested  by 
somebody  that  seem  to  demand  a  higher  training.  Now,  admitting  that 
there  is  a  certain  kind  of  drawing  necessary  to  be  done  which  is  absolutely 
mechanical,  so  that  an  animated  machine  would  do  it  just  as  well  as  a  man, 
still  I  say  that  even  for  this  kind  of  draughtsmanship  it  is  a  good  thing  for 
the  draughtsman  to  have  the  training  this  method  gives,  and  this  for  two 


Charcoal  Drawing. 


231 


reasons :  in  the  first  place,  that  kind  of  work,  since  accuracy  is  its  only 
merit,  needs  every  aid  to  accuracy  that  any  method  can  aiford,  and  we  have 
seen  that  this  method  has  pretensions  on  this  score  that  are  not  to  be  over- 
looked. It  is  found,  indeed,  that  for  antiquarian  and  scientific  purposes, 
where  abject  literalness  is  the  main  thing  to  be  secured,  draughtsmen  trained 
in  these  methods  are  the  best ;  they  are  most  apt  at  seizing  the  individuality 
of  form  or  character  which  makes  it  desirable  to  draw  such  objects  at  all. 
But  in  the  second  place,  most  work  of  this  sort  is  done  nowadays  by  pho- 
tography, and  the  draughtsman  is  called  in  to  do  what  the  photograph  cannot 
do,  that  is,  to  exercise  judgment  and  taste,  and  the  higher  his  quality  the  bet- 
ter he  will  do  even  the  inferior  work,  and  the  more  rapidly  he  will  be  promoted 
to  work  that  is  superior.  In  fact,  the  rudiments  of  a  superior  culture,  especially 
in  one's  own  Hne  of  life,  never  do  any  one  any  harm. 

But  this  is  not  the  sort  of  work  which  this  school  is  ultimately  intended  to 
foster  ;  it  is  industrial  drawing,  properly  so  called,  that  is  to  say,  the  applica- 
tion of  design  to  manufactures,  or  decorative  art.  If  you  suppose  that  this  is  a 
simple,  easy,  or  subordinate  branch  of  art,  or  that  mere  draughtsmanship  is 
of  any  use  in  it,  you  are  very  much  mistaken.  Both  in  theory  and  in  practice 
it  requires  the  exercise  of  the  highest  faculties  and  involves  in  its  degree 
the  highest  qualities  of  art ;  it  is  knowledge  of  form  and  skill  in  composition 
that  are  necessary  in  industrial  art,  not  a  mechanical  imitation  of  nature. 
And  here  I  may  again  quote  the  writer  of  whom  I  have  already  spoken. 
After  pointing  out  that  naturalistic  art  is  necessarily  imitative,  and  that 
decorative  art  and  ideal  art  are  in  principle  the  same,  "  On  the  one  hand," 
he  says,  "  the  representation  of  facts  or  subject,  is  the  purpose,  —  on  the 
other,  to  cover  a  given  space  beautifully  ;  and  the  union  of  these  two  is  the 
finest  art,  for  a  space  is  not  the  less  beautifully  filled  because  a  story  is 
at  the  same  time  told  in  it.  The  spandrils  of  Michelangelo  are  examples 
of  both  qualities.  It  is  not  by  accident  that  decorative  art  and  ideal  art  have 
always  flourished  together ;  for  the  same  technical  knowledge  is  necessary 
to  both.  The  greatest  artists  have  been  the  greatest  ornamentalists."  And 
I  may  add  that  decoration  should  be,  in  its  way,  just  what  Veronese  or 
Titian  would  have  made  it.  This  may  seem  to  you  discouraging  doctrine, 
since  we  cannot  expect  to  find  such  men,  and  if  we  could  they  would  not 
spend  their  lives  designing  furniture  and  calicoes.  But  what  distinguishes 
these  men  is  their  greatness  ;  they  differ  from  more  common  folks  not  in 
kind  but  in  degree  :  and  men  of  the  same  quality,  not  adequately  endowed  to 
make  painters,  but  capable  of  doing  less  difficult  work  as  well  as  it  can  be 
done,  may  turn  up  any  day.  They  do.  Now,  in  order  to  fill  beautifully  a 
given  space,  the  space  must  be  regarded  as  a  whole;  the  main  distribution  of 
masses  of  color  and  the  main  movement  of  the  lines  is  the  main  thing.  This 
is  what  we  mean  by  composition.  It  follows  at  once  that  the  way  of  work- 
ing we  have  been  considering  and  the  way  of  looking  at  things  and  thinking 
of  them  on  which  it  is  based  and  which  in  turn  it  tends  to  foster,  are  just 
those  which  a  school  of  industrial  art  should  employ.  And  this  is,  I  may 
say,  eminently  the  case  in  the  study  and  practice  of  architectural  design. 


232 


The  Antefix  Papers, 


It  is  said,  moreover,  and  it  is  a  saying  too  significant  not  to  be  repeated,  that 
the  way  of  regarding  things  which  a  draughtsman  thus  acquires  soon  pervades 
every  department  of  his  thought,  until  it  becomes  a  trait  of  his  whole  intellec- 
tual character ;  that,  by  an  easy  analogy  he  comes  to  look  at  everything  in 
life  largely  and  simply,  in  its  most  important  and  significant  aspect,  taking  no 
trouble  about  trifles  and  details  which  have  really  no  interest,  and  not  being 
troubled  by  them  ;  so  that  the  study  of  drawing,  thus  pursued,  not  only  opens 
a  new  sense  in  art,  but  makes  the  whole  of  life  seem  simpler,  nobler,  and  more 
serene.  If  this  is  so,  we  may  here  find  an  answer,  and  believe  it  to  be  one  of 
the  true  answers  to  the  question  so  often  asked,  — what  good  art  or  the  pursuit 
of  art  really  does.  That  it  makes  life  pleasanter  seems  to  many,  both  of  those 
who  regard  it  from  within  and  of  those  who  look  on  from  without,  hardly  an 
adequate  account  of  it,  hardly  a  sufficient  exposition  of  its  function  in  the 
organization  of  society.  But  if,  when  rightly  pursued,  it  gives  happiness  and 
dignity  to  life,  by  helping  men  to  a  clearer  insight  into  the  real  nature  of  things, 
one  may  name  it,  without  misgiving,  in  the  same  breath  with  literature, 
science,  and  religion. 

The  question  might  arise,  and  it  is  one  which  can  hardly  fail  to  arise  in 
your  own  minds,  whether  this  way  of  going  to  work  is  suited  to  beginners,  and 
whether  this  way  of  looking  at  things  is  reasonably  to  be  expected  of  children  ; 
the  question,  that  is,  naturally  arises  whether  this  method  of  work  is  a  useful 
one  for  a  teacher  of  drawing  to  take  up.  It  may  be  admitted,  I  think,  with- 
out hesitation,  that,  considering  the  intellectual  character  of  the  workit  exacts 
and  the  continuous  and  concentrated  attention  it  requires,  it  would  hardly  be 
expected  that  very  young  children  should  find  it  interesting  or  profitable.  This 
is  a  practical  question,  in  regard  to  which  I  can  only  say  that  in  the  few  cases 
in  which  I  have  known  the  experiment  to  be  tried  it  has  succeeded.  But  if  the 
experiments  had  failed,  it  would  have  furnished  only  another  proof  that  children 
and  grown  persons  often  need  different  methods  of  instruction.  For  that  this 
way  of  drawing  is  a  capital  introduction  to  the  subject  for  all  persons  old 
enough  to  entertain  the  ideas  on  which  it  is  based  has  been  abundantly  proved 
by  experiment.  Besides  its  obvious  advantages  in  occupying  and  stimulating 
the  mind,  so  that  a  drawing  becomes  not  so  much  a  piece  of  taskwork  to  be  done 
as  a  lesson  to  be  studied  and  understood,  the  peculiarity  just  now  pointed  out, 
that  even  in  its  must  unfinished  state  work  done  in  this  way  is  nevertheless 
significant,  and  in  a  sense  complete,  offers  the  teacher  a  great  advantage.  He 
is  able  to  take  a  drawing  away  from  a  pupil  as  soon  as  he  has  done  all  he  knows 
how  to  do,  without  discouraging  him  or  making  him  feel  that  all  his  previous 
labor  is  thrown  away  because  he  is  not  allowed  to  go  on  and  finish  it.  The 
student  may  thus  be  kept  at  work  beginning  one  drawing  after  another,  of  dif- 
ferent subjects,  until  he  has  learned  how  to  begin,  how  to  seize  the  main  move- 
ment in  a  few  lines,  —  in  a  word,  how  to  sketch.  And  this  is  in  itself  a  lesson 
of  great  value.  It  is  something  to  learn  that,  as  in  the  case  of  this  sarcoph- 
agus, nothing  is  too  difficult  to  attack  if  you  go  simply  enough  about  it. 
When  one  has  learned  to  put  in  his  main  hues  with  accuracy,  he  may  be  allowed 
to  carry  his  work  to  a  second  stage.    This  saves  the  student  from  the  utter 


Charcoal  Drawing. 


233 


loss  of  time  and  labor  which  comes  from  carefully  elaborating  a  work  funda- 
mentally wrong  at  the  start  ;  moreover,  it  affords  a  solution  of  a  most  per- 
plexing question,  —  the  question  whether  to  begin  teaching  with  outline  or  with 
shading.  If  outline  is  chosen,  the  work  is  almost  inevitably  not  only  uninterest- 
ing, but  inaccurate  :  until  one  has  some  experience  in  shading  he  hardly  learns 
what  accuracy  of  line  means  or  feels  its  necessity ;  if,  on  the  other  hand, 
shading  iS'  taken  up,  each  drawing  takes  so  long  to  do  that  the  drawing  of 
outlines  is  hardly  practised  at  all.  But  by  taking  different  subjects  in  rapid 
succession  and  at  first  carrying  them  through  only  the  first  stages  of  the  pro- 
cess, as  was  the  case  with  most  of  the  drawings  on  the  screen  before  you,  both 
kinds  of  work  are  kept  constantly  in  hand  ;  one  takes  just  about  as  much  time 
as  the  other  ;  and,  what  is  more  important  than  all,  the  habit  is  formed  of  put- 
ting in  the  line  with  an  eye  to  the  shading,  and  the  shading  with  an  eye  to  the 
outline,  and  both  in  subordination  to  the  general  effect  and  ultimate  result. 

But  a  student  should  not  be  allowed  to  do  more  than  two  or  three  drawings 
at  a  time  in  this  imperfect  way,  lest  he  come  to  believe  that  the  rough  indica" 
tion  and  suggestion  of  form  is  really  sufficient.  Every  third  or  fourth  draw- 
ing should  be  carried  as  far  as  the  student  can  possibly  carry  it.  He  thus 
not  only  learns  that  the  first  step  is  not  everything,  but  finds  out  what  points 
it  is  really  essential  to  give  at  the  start  in  order  ultimately  to  succeed. 

V.  These,  then,  are  the  advantages  claimed  for  the  system  of  drawing  which 
you  are  about  to  take  up,  and  these  are  the  considerations  which  justify  its 
introduction  into  your  course  of  study.  But  in  thus  urging  its  claims  upon 
your  respect,  it  is  no  more  than  fair  and  just  to  point  out  that,  admirable  and 
comprehensive  as  it  is,  it  still  chiefly  regards  one  side  of  the  subject,  and  that 
an  exclusive  and  extreme  application  of  its  principles  may  lead  to  a  certain 
narrowness  and  to  the  development  of  the  faults  which  it  is  not  specially 
designed  to  counteract.  Everything,  however  good,  has  what  the  French  call 
les  defauts  de  ses  qualites^  the  faults  which  belong  to  its  merits.  In  any  work 
the  things  that  are  Considered  first  and  chief  must  naturally  receive  most  thought 
and  attention  j  the  things  that  come  last,  less.  Now,  inasmuch  as  all  objects 
appear  to  the  eye  as  masses  of  color,  the  line  that  bounds  them  having  no 
real  existence,  but  being  simply  the  limit  where  one  color  stops  and  another 
begins,  it  might  be  claimed  for  a  system  of  drawing  which  gives  chief  attention 
to  these  masses,  leaving  the  outline  to  take  care  of  itself,  that  in  addition  to 
what  has  already  been  said  in  its  favor  it  was  the  most  natural  way  of  work- 
ing, producing  results  which  most  resemble  in  effect  the  effect  of  the  objects 
themselves.  And  it  is  true  that  nothing  can,  in  effect,  be  more  unlike  the 
real  aspect  of  things  than  the  results  of  a  contrary  way  of  going  to  work,  in 
which  the  outlines,  which  have  no  substantial  existence,  are  the  only  things 
represented,  and  the  surfaces,  which  are  really  the  only  things  to  be  seen,  are 
left  blank.  A  piece  of  white  paper  with  black  lines  drawn  over  it  is  certainly 
as  different,  in  its  total  effect,  from  a  bunch  of  flowers  or  a  group  of  men  as 
one  visual  object  can  be  from  another.  Nevertheless,  these  bounding  lines, 
unreal  though  they  are,  and  without  breadth  or  thickness,  first  catch  the  eye 
and  make  the  most  vigorous  and  lasting  impression  upon  the  memory.    It  is 

30 


234 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


shape  here  that  we  chiefly  attend  to.  An  outline  drawing,  accordingly,  abso- 
lutely unlike  as  it  is,  in  general  effect,  to  the  object  it  represents,  and  consist- 
ing as  it  does  in  lines  which  have  no  counterpart  in  nature,  gives,  not  indeed 
an  exhaustive  representation,  but  yet  in  a  sense  a  complete  one.  It  tells  the 
chief  part  of  what  is  to  be  told.  The  color  and  the  modelling  are  hardly 
missed  ;  if  made  with  skill  and  care,  indeed,  it  suffices  to  indicate  much  of 
the  movement  of  the  surface  within  and  to  express  a  large  part  of  the  life  and 
character,  the  vigor  of  movement  and  delicacy  of  form  that  it  is  possible  by 
any  means  to  convey.  It  is,  indeed,  the  chief  means  of  conveying  them  ;  it  is 
in  the  line  that  expression  chiefly  resides.  Let  me  read  you  what  Blake,  him- 
self a  master  of  line,  says  of  it :  — 

"  The  great  and  golden  rule  of  art,  as  well  as  of  life,  is  this  :  That  the 
more  distinct,  sharp,  and  wiry  the  bounding  line,  the  more  perfect  the  work  of 
art ;  and  the  less  keen  and  sharp,  the  greater  is  the  evidence  of  weak  imita- 
tion, plagiarism,  and  bungling.  Great  inventors  in  all  ages  knew  this  :  Pro- 
togenes  and  Apelles  knew  each  other  by  this  line.  Raphael,  Michelangelo,  and 
Albert  Diirer  are  known  by  this  and  this  alone.  The  want  of  this  determinate 
and  bounding  form  evidences  the  want  of  idea  in  the  artist's  mind  and  the 
pretence  of  the  plagiary  in  all  its  branches." 

Whether,  then,  we  begin  thus  with  the  lines,  or  whether,  as  just  now,  in  our 
charcoal-work,  with  the  masses  of  light  and  shade,  it  is,  you  see,  possible  to 
put  so  much  care  and  thought  into  our  beginnings  as  to  make  what  remains 
to  do,  in  either  case,  seem  quite  secondary  in  importance.  And  this  being 
so,  it  could  hardly  fail  to  come  about  that  people  should  differ  as  to  which  is 
really  the  main  thing,  some  maintaining  that  accuracy  and  delicacy  of  line  is 
everything,  that  truth  of  form  and  of  expression  resides  in  the  precise  definition 
and  delineation  both  of  the  main  features  and  of  the  parts,  and  holding  that, 
if  these  essential  truths  are  maintained,  other  things,  such  as  the  modelling 
and  the  "  values,"  may  in  due  time  easily  be  added.  In  short,  since  the  lines 
give  two  dimensions  and  the  modelling  only  adds  the  third,  it  is  obvious  that 
the  first  is  twice  as  important  as  the  second.  Moreover,  it  is  more  reasonable 
to  fix  the  outline  and  then  model  the  form  indicated  than  to  attend  to  the  sur- 
faces first,  and  determine  their  extent  afterwards  ;  and  if  this  involves,  in  a 
measure,  the  study  of  particulars  first  and  of  general  effects  afterwards,  it  is 
plain  that  if  you  get  every  part  right  the  whole  cannot  be  wrong,  and  that  a 
knowledge  of  the  parts  is  a  necessary  preliminary  to  any  proper  comprehen- 
sion of  the  whole. 

This  aspect  of  the  subject  is,  you  see,  different  enough  from  that  which  I 
was  just  now  exhibiting  to  you.  The  point  of  view  is  different,  and  the  sys- 
tem of  procedure  it  implies  differs  accordingly.  One  system  regards  the 
surfaces,  the  other  the  lines  that  limit  them.  One  might  say,  roughly,  for 
distinction's  sake,  that  the  first  is  the  painter's  way  of  looking  at  things,  the 
other  the  draughtsman's.  I  should  then  have  to  recall  what  I  was  saying  a 
moment  ago,  and  say,  instead,  that  the  representation  of  values  was  almost 
the  whole  of  painting,  and  that  the  tracing  of  lines  constituted  almost  the 
whole  of  drawing.    But  the  common  usages  of  language  hardly  warrant  this 


Charcoal  Drawing.  235 

form  of  statement,  though  I  think  it  will  suffice  to  convey  to  you  the  idea  it 
is  meant  to  express.  The  word  "  drawing  "  is  generally  used  to  signify  what- 
ever is  done,  whether  by  outline  or  by  light  and  shade,  to  exhibit  form,  and 
"painting"  to  signify  the  representation  of  color.  In  this  sense,  the  values 
belong  to  painting  or  to  drawing  according  as  they  indicate  color  or  form. 

Each  of  these  two  systems,  of  course,  recognizes  the  importance  of  the 
considerations  which  the  other  system  puts  forward,  but  it  considers  them 
of  secondary  importance.  Both  systems  propose  ultimately  to  cover  the 
whole  ground,  both  contemplating  the  same  ultimate  perfection  and  fulness 
of  achievement.  But  however  generous  the  intention,  you  can  easily  under- 
stand that  each  is,  in  practice,  likely  to  give  an  undue,  if  not  an  exclusive 
prominence  to  its  own  side  of  the  subject;  and  I  think  you  will  be  disposed 
to  agree  with  me  that  the  plan  is  a  wise  one  which  is  pursued  in  your  own 
case,  of  taking  up  both  systems  simultaneously,  not  waiting  for  either  in  its 
complete  development  to  do  the  work  of  the  other,  but  letting  exercises  in 
line  accompany  the  exercises  in  shading,  each  method  supplementing  the 
other's  natural  deficiencies.  In  schools,  also,  in  which  the  study  of 
values  has  been  made  the  chief  thing,  it  has  been  found  well,  in  practice,  to 
introduce  special  exercises  in  line,  so  that  the  student  may  not  only  acquire  a 
certain  dexterity  of  hand  and  eye,  the  importance  of  which,  in  ali  branches 
of  industrial  art,  can  hardly  be  overrated,  but  may  be  trained  to  observe  and 
appreciate  that  refinement  of  form  and  delicacy  of  expression  which  line 
alone  can  give. 

But  however  profitable  it  may  be  thus  in  practice  to  combine  these  two 
methods  of  work,  however  it  may  contribute  to  a  large  and  generous  view  of 
the  whole  subject  to  contemplate  it  in  both  these  aspects,  the  considerations 
I  have  urged  in  behalf  of  the  way  of  thinking  and  the  way  of  working  I  have 
endeavored  to  explain  to  you  seem  to  me  still  to  give  it  the  first  place  in  our 
regard.  Without  further  enlarging  upon  them,  or  delaying  you  to  point  out 
the  practical  dangers  of  the  opposite  method,  the  defects  that  go  along  with 
its  merits,  I  will  ask  your  attention  to  a  distinction  which  seems  to  me  fairly 
to  characterize  these  two  systems,  and  to  go  far  to  justify  this  preference. 
It  seems  to  me  that  the  way  of  going  to  work  by  a  careful  delineation  of 
form,  working  up  from  particulars  to  the  whole,  is  natural  and  proper  for  the 
copyist,  for  the  draughtsman  whose  aim  is  the  exact  reproduction  of  what  is 
before  him,  —  that  it  is  the  method,  in  short,  of  imitative  art ;  while  the  other 
way,  beginning  with  the  general  idea,  and  proceeding  gradually  to  the  details, 
is  the  way  a  designer  goes  to  work,  —  that  it  is  the  method  of  ideal  art. 
These  different  ways  of  thinking  and  working  probably  spring,  at  bottom, 
from  fundamentally  different  views  of  the  relation  of  man  to  nature  and 
of  the  relation  of  both  to  art,  — indeed,  of  the  nature  and  purpose  of  art  itself. 

Without  going  into  the  general  question,  however,  it  suffices  for  our  present 
purpose  to  observe  that  in  the  industrial  arts,  the  advancement  of  which  is 
the  purpose  of  this  institution,  the  draughtsman  is  not  a  copyist  or  imitator, 
but  a  designer,  and  that  the  methods  of  work  natural  and  proper  in  the 
practice  of  original  design  are  the  proper  methods  for  us  and  our  pupils.  In 


The  A^ttefix  Papers. 


the  practice  of  design,  at  least,  the  study  of  the  masses  must  precede  that  of 
the  details  ;  the  general  movement  must  be  determined  before  the  special 
forms  are  made  out ;  things  must  be  sketched  before  they  can  be  drawn. 
And  this  view  is  confirmed  and  illustrated  by  what  happens  in  the  analogous 
literary  process,  w^here  a  rough  sketch  is  prepared  before  the  more  finished 
work  is  attempted.  A  passage  in  Mr.  Mill's  autobiography  is  here  so  perti- 
nent that  I  will  read  it  to  you :  "  I  have  found,"  he  says,  "  that  the  patience 
necessary  for  the  careful  elaboration  of  the  details  of  composition  and  expres- 
sion costs  much  less  effort  after  the  entire  subject  has  been  once  gone 
through,  and  the  substance  of  all  that  I  find  to  say  has  in  some  manner, 
however  imperfect,  been  got  upan  paper.  The  only  thing  that  I  am  careful 
in  the  first  draft  to  make  as  perfect  as  I  am  able  is  the  arrangement.  If  that 
is  bad,  the  whole  thread  on  which  the  ideas  string  themselves  becomes  ^ 
twisted,  .  .  .  and  a  first  draft  with  this  original  vice  is  next  to  useless  as  a 
foundation  for  the  final  treatment." 

This  passage,  without  the  change  of  a  word,  exactly  applies  to  artistic 
composition.  Tlie  intellectual  process  in  all  composition  is  indeed  the  same. 
Now,  the  method  of  drawing  which  makes  this  process  familiar,  which  fos- 
ters this  mental  habit,  is  the  one  most  to  our  purpose  ;  and  that,  it  seems  to- 
me, is  the  one  which  forms  the  subject  of  this  discourse. 

VI.  I  have  spoken  of  the  study  of  line  and  of  details  as  forming  o-ne  system^ 
and  of  the  study  of  surfaces  and  of  the  masses  of  light  and  shade  as  forming 
another,  because,  in  fact  and  in  the  nature  of  things,  these  generally  gO' 
together.  The  study  of  line  naturally  tends  to  exactness  and  a  minute  pre- 
cision, directing  attention  to  the  accurate  representation  of  parts  ;  the  study 
of  surfaces  naturally  brings  up  their  relations  of  light  and  shade  and  a  con- 
sideration of  the  general  effect :  but  this  association,  although  a  natural,  is 
not  a  necessary  one,  and  a  chief  part  of  the  benefit  to  be  derived  from  the 
studies  you  are  now  to  begin  will  be  missed  if  you  do  not  learn,  even  in  your 
outline  work,  to  proceed  from  generals  to  particulars,  first  determining  the 
general  movement  of  the  forms,  and  then  proceeding  to  put  in  the  details  in 
subordination  to  that  general  movement,  making  the  line  at  last  express 
everything  that  o-utline  can  of  grace  and  vigor.  Everything  that  I  have  said 
of  the  advantage  of  proceeding  from  generals  to  particulars  applies  just  as 
much  to  the  treatment  of  lines  as  to  that  of  surfaces. 

And  on  the  other  hand,  the  study  of  surface  and  of  light  and  shade,  although  it 
naturally  invites  a  larger  and  broader  treatment,  does  not  necessarily  involve  it, 
as  the  experience  of  almost  all  drawing  schools,  our  own  included,  abundantly 
shows.  In  the  shading,  as  in  the  outline,  a  premature  effort  to  obtain  neat- 
ness and  a  mechanical  precision  leads  to  poor  and  paltry  results  ;  it  leads 
to  the  production  of  those  painful  and  elaborate  works  with  which  we  are  all 
too  familiar,  patiently  stippled  to  the  last  degree,  marvels  of  painful  and  mis- 
directed labor,  but  destitute  of  character  and  expression,  and  liable,  how- 
ever careful  in  parts,  to  remain  unstudied  and  inaccurate  as  a  whole.  The  too 
exclusive  employment  of  the  point  as  an  instrument  tends  obviously  in  this  direc- 
tion ;  its  range  is  limited,  and  it  almost  necessarily  confines  the  attention  to 


Charcoal  Drawing. 


237 


a  restricted  field.  The  English  system  of  schools  of  art,  with  the  training 
school  at  South  Kensington  at  their  head,  have  fallen  into  this  error.  These 
schools  have,  in  the  course  of  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  raised  the  art  manufac- 
tures of  Great  Britain  from  the  lowest  rank  to  nearly  the  highest ;  and  if  they 
have  missed  the  success  they  might  have  reached,  and  if  these  works  have 
failed  to  exhibit  the  higher  artistic  quality  they  might  easily  have  attained,  it 
is  in  great  part  due,  it  seems  to  me,  to  their  exclusive  preference  for  the  point 
in  drawing  and  to  the  system  of  drawing  which  this  preference  implies  and 
involves.  It  is  the  object  of  the  course  of  lessons  you  are  now  about  to  re- 
ceive to  supplement  the  deficiencies  of  the  English  methods  in  this  particular. 
For  in  our  own  system  of  schools,  and  in  this  school  especially,  which  stands 
at  its  head,  it  has  been  the  intention  from  the  outset,  while  profiting  by  the 
successes  of  the  English  system,  to  profit  also  by  its  failures,  avoiding  the 
errors  which  have  limited  its  usefulness.  It  is  hoped  that  the  advantages  of 
both  may  be  secured  for  us  by  incorporating  into  the  English  system  of 
organization  and  management  the  French  system  of  drawing.  For  it  may  be 
said  that,  whila  in  England  they  use  the  stump,  when  they  use  it  at  all,  as  if 
it  were  a  hard  point,  in  France  they  employ  the  point  —  and  it  is  of  course  in 
frequent  use  —  in  the  same  spirit  as  they  use  charcoal  or  the  stump.  I  think 
I  cannot  better  conclude  these  remarks  than  by  citing  upon  this  point  the 
emphatic  testimony  of  one  of  the  English  art  masters,  sent  to  Paris  by  the 
English  Government  in  1867  to  report  upon  the  Continental  systems  of  art 
education.    The  report  *  says  :  — 

"  This  difference  of  feehng,  which  is  observable  in  both  fine  and  industrial 
art,  between  the  English  and  Continental  works,  is  not  difficult  to  account 
for ;  the  explanation  of  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  very  different  degree  to  which 
drawing  is  taught  generally  in  England  and  in  France  and  Germany,  but 
principally  is  it  owing  to  the  superior  system  upon  which  the  subject  is 
studied  in  France,  at  least,  to  what  it  is  in  England.  .  .  .  The  French 
method  is  so  opposite,  and  the  results  of  the  instruction,  as  seen  in  painting, 
architecture,  sculpture,  and  industrial  art,  so  far  beyond  all  that  we  have  done 
recently  in  England,  that  it  would  be  well  for  us  if,  upon  the  basis  of  our 
English  school  of  art  method,  we  could  engraft  that  element  in  the  French 
(if  we  can  only  discover  it)  which  gives  such  extraordinary  mastery  over 
drawing  possessed  by  both  their  artists  and  workmen." 

"The  most  interesting  study  to  an  English  art-master  was  the  educational 
display  in  the  French  Court.  Here,  if  at  all,  could  be  detected  the  secret  of 
that  power  of  drawing,  before  referred  to,  which  is  the  chief  characteristic  of 
applied  art  in  French  manufactures,  as  well  as  in  the  fine  art-works  in  archi- 
tecture, painting,  and  sculpture.  .  .  .  Though  the  number  of  works  was 
limited,  there  was  sufficient  to  display  what  are  the  aims  of  the  schools,  and 
to  allow  of  a  fair  judgment  concerning  the  success  which  meets  their  eff"orts. 
The  aim  is  very  humble,  the  success  distinguished.  It  is  refreshing,  after 
seeing  the  handsome  drawings,  nicely  mounted,  of  the  English  and  some 

*  Prize  Report  on  the  Art  Educational  Section  of  the  Paris  Exhibition  of  1867.  By  Walter  Smith, 
Head  Master  of  the  Schools  of  Art  in  Leeds,  Bradford,  and  Wakefield.    London,  1869. 


238 


The  Antefix  Papers. 


German  Courts,  to  see  here  the  rough  and  roughly-presented  studies  of 
French  students.  Occasionally  a  moderately  elaborate  light-and-shade  draw- 
ing from  the  antique  was  elevated  to  a  place  of  honor  on  the  walls  of  the 
French  Court,  but  the  great  majority  were  in  portfolios  in  the  wooden  bins, 
one  of  which  was  allotted  to  each  school.  Here,  upon  common  paper,  were 
numerous  studies,  some  from  the  most  execrable  flat  examples  of  ornamental 
design  ;  others  from  casts  of  the  antique  of  ornament  and  figure  ;  and  others 
from  the  living  model, — all  wrought  in  charcoal  and  crayon,  rubbed  and 
stumped  in  their  general  working,  and  many  finished  by  spirited  touches 
with  the  chalk  point  and  enrichment  of  the  deep  shadows  by  the  same  means. 
The  method  of  progression  appeared  to  be  from  shaded  flat  copies  to  the 
cast,  and  from  the  cast  to  the  living  model.  The  first  exercises  were  large 
details  of  ornament  and  animal  forms,  coarsely  but  effectively  shaded  in 
chalk,  so  that  from  the  very  beginning  the  student  is  taught  that  the  end  of 
his  work  is  to  get  an  effect  of  perfect  realization  in  light  and  shade.  This 
course  of  study  I  saw  in  operation  in  several  of  the  municipal  schools  in 
Paris,  both  male  and  female,  and  can  speak  of  it  with  the  greatest  admira- 
tion. Little  boys,  who  with  us  would  be  languishing  over  outline  drawing  of 
difficult  pieces  of  ornament,  which  they  have  to  do  for  many  weary  months, 
in  the  French  schools  are  working  away  deeply  interested  over  their  draw- 
ings in  charcoal  and  chalk,  studying  the  effect  of  roundness  in  their  copy, 
and  struggling  hard  to  get  it  in  their  own  drawings.  Then  I  observed  that 
though  a  student  in  England  might  work  for  weeks  over  an  outline  which  is 
only  a  bad  imitation  of  another  outline  done,  as  it  were,  by  brute  force,  the 
French  pupil  either  makes  or  mars  his  study  in  three  or  four  evenings,  and  it 
is  more  or  less  an  effort  of  his  own  feeling,  his  own  spirit  and  knowledge.  If 
he  is  in  a  low  stage  of  perception  of  form  or  effect,  he  does  his  best  honestly  in 
that  stage,  and  goes  on  quickly  from  it  to  something  higher  without  stopping 
to  affect  in  his  work  a  refinement  he  does  not  feel,  or  waste  his  time  in  the 
mere  mimicry  of  finish  he  cannot  understand." 

"  It  appears  to  me  that  this  French  method  of  teaching  drawing  is  the  one 
lesson  which  may  be  learnt  by  an  art-educationalist  from  the  Paris  Exhibi- 
tion. We  see  in  all  the  French  productions  of  art  and  industry,  without 
exception,  intense  power  and  perfect  facility  of  drawing,  and  we  see  in  French 
schools  of  art  a  simple,  easy  way  of  teaching  drawing,  differing  totally  from 
all  other  methods  displayed  in  the  Exhibition,  or  that  we  know  to  exist.  I 
do  not  attribute  the  brilliant  artistic  powers  of  Frenchmen  wholly  to  the  way 
in  which  they  learn  to  draw  ;  but  I  do  say  there  is  a  definite  connection 
between  the' two  things,  —  the  unique  method  of  instruction  and  the  attain- 
ment of  unique  and  perfect  drawing-power  in  art." 

"  Compared  with  the  Enghsh  school  of  art  system,  the  French  is  deficient 
in  breadth  and  comprehensiveness,  and  yet  it  gets  more  valuable  results  than 
the  English  does.  .  .  .  What  we  want  in  England  is  to  engraft  upon  our 
system  this  French  plan  as  to  drawing,  and  then  we  should  have  absorbed, 
as  it  were,  the  soul  of  French  art-education.  It  is,  I  am  prepared  to  allow,  a 
very  rough  and  ready  method,  —  all  the  more  suitable,  therefore,  for  students 


Charcoal  Drawing, 


who  begin  their  studies  with  taste  and  power  at  zero  ;  but  it  has,  on  the  other 
hand,  capacity  of  development  to  suit  the  education  of  the  most  perfect  taste 
and  the  maturest  power.  Some  years  ago  the  practice  of  working  light-and- 
shade  drawings  with  leather  and  stump  as  instruments,  using  chalk  or  char- 
coal as  a  medium,  was  entirely  scouted  in  English  schools  of  art.  The 
examination  and  reports  upon  the  French  Art  Schools'  Exhibition  by  inspec- 
tors and  masters  of  the  English  schools,  in  1864,  drew  attention  to  the 
excellence  of  the  method,  and  its  adoption  was  very  strongly  advocated  by  at 
least  one  master.  Since  then,  both  in  London  and  the  provinces,  several 
masters  have  partially  adopted  the  system,  and  it  was  well  represented  in 
this  year's  national  competition  in  London." 

"  What  I  propose  to  do  is  to  see  whether  we  cannot  combine  with  our 
English  art-education  the  good  features  by  which  the  French  and  German 
educationalists  try  to  develop  art-feeling  among  the  actual  producers  of  the 
works." 


The  illustrations  which  accompany  this  paper  are  prepared  by  the  heliotype 
process  of  Messrs.  Osgood  &  Co,  One  page  is  made  up  from  the  drawings 
referred  to  in  the  text,  most  of  which  were  made  by  students  in  the  architec- 
tural department  of  the  Institute  of  Technology.  The  bunch  of  fruit,  how- 
ever, shown  in  two  stages  at  the  foot  of  the  page,  was  drawn  by  pupils  of  the 
Female  School  of  Design  at  the  Cooper  Institute  in  New  York,  where  a 
system  of  drawing  is  pursued  substantially  the  same  as  that  described  in 
this  paper,  under  the  direction  of  Mrs.  Susan  N.  Carter.  The  other  illustra- 
tions are  from  drawings  by  Mrs.  Carter  herself,  and  are  here  reproduced  by 
the  kind  permission  of  Messrs.  Prang  &  Co.,  to  whom  they  belong,  and  who 
are  proposing  to  publish  them  in  lithography  as  examples  for  drawing- 
schools.  The  four  drawings  of  the  vase  exhibit  the  four  principal  stages  of 
the  work,  beginning  with  the  outline  and  going  on  to  the  indication  of  the  prin- 
cipal masses  of  light  and  shade,  the  modeUing  of  the  light  by  graduated 
shading,  and  the  modelling  of  the  shade  by  the  introduction  of  reflected 
lights.  The  head  of  Homer  exhibits  a  late  stage  of  a  more  difficult 
example,  and  illustrates  the  method  of  modelling  by  planes  as  described  in 
the  text. 


I 


ERRATA. 

Page  77,  line  36,  for  "  Sir  Charles  "  read  Charles  L. 
137,  line  42,  for  "  choudrus"  read  chondrus. 
139,  line  2,  for  "lazetta"  read  lagetta. 
139,  line  23,  for  ''Latechu"  read  Catechu. 
139,  line  27,  for  "sinaceae"  read  linace(E. 
169,  line  12,  for  "it"  read  lead  glass. 

171,  line  18,  for  "  a  paint  is  mixed  with  it "  read  a  paint  is 
mixed. 


BiGELow,  Kennard  &  Co. 
DIAMONDS, 

5AND   ALL   OTHER   PRECIOUS  STONES. 

Clocks,  Watches  and  Jewelry. 

ARTISTIC    AND  ORNAMENTAL 

BRONZES. 
Silver  and  Silver  Plated  Ware. 

The  Newest  Productions  and  Best  Workmanship  of  Foreign 
Importations  and  Domestic  Manufacture. 

New  No.  501  Washington  Street,  cor.  of  West  Street, 

BOSTON. 
ART  AND  DECORATIVE  TILES. 

C.  A.  WELLINGTON, 

IMPORTER  OF 
FOR 

FLOORS.  FURNITURE.  EXTERIORS.  Etc. 

Contracts  solicited  for  tile  work  in  Churches,  Banks,  and  Public  Buildings. 

158  TREMONT  STREET,   -    -  BOSTON. 

Plain  Tiles  for  Painting  in  various  Tints. 
(1) 


J.  LovEjoY  &  Sons. 


IMPORTERS  AND  RETAILERS  OF 


CARPETINGS, 


178  &  179  Tremont  Street, 


BOSTON. 


L.  A.  ELLIOT  AND  COMPANY, 

(Elliot,  Blakeslee  &  Noyes) 
IMPORTERS   AND   DEALERS  IN 

NGpiN&s,  Chromos,  Photogrjiphs, 

STUDIES,  AND  OTHER  WORKS  OF  ART. 


AT  WHOLESALE  AND  RETAIL. 

PICTURE  FRAMES  MADE  TO  ORDER. 


No.  354  Washington  Street,    -    -    -  Boston. 

NEXT  DOOR  NORTH  OF  GLOBE  THEATRE. 

A.  A.  WALKER  &  CO. 

Importers  and  Dealers  in 

ARTISTS'  MATERIALS, 

,    Stationery,  Russia  Leattier  Goods,  etc. 
3B4  Washington  Street,  -  -  BOSTON. 

First  door  North  of  Globe  Theatre. 
C2) 


TORREY,  BRIGHT  k  CjlPEN, 

(Successors  to  Fowls,  Torrby  &  Co.) 
IMPORTERS   AND   DEALERS  IN 

Fine  Carpets, 

348  AND  350 
■Wa-slilzigtorL  Streot, 

BOSTON. 


(3) 


ESTABLISHED  1810. 


POTTERY  &  GLASS 

Art  and  Ornamental  Wares. 

Jones,  McDuffee  &  Stratton, 

(SUCCESSORS  TO  OTIS  NORCROSS  &  CO.) 

51  TO  59  FEDERAL  STREET,  cor.  FRANKLIN, 

BOSTON, 

IMPORTERS,  WHOLESALERS  AND  RETAILERS, 

Have  constantly  arriving,  from  original  sources,  of  foreign  manufacture,  viz.  English, 
French,  German,  Chinese,  and  Japanese.  Also,  Faience,  Cloissonne,  and  Nancy 
Ware,  including  desirable  and  extensive  varieties  of 

CfjOCKERY,  CHINA  >ND  TABLE  GLASS  W/IRE, 

From  the  common  Kitchen  Ware  to  the  richest  ware  imported,  sold  in  large  or  small 
lots  to  suit  the  buyer,  and  delivered  free  in  any  part  of  the  city. 

"Ware  decorated  to  order,  in  color  or  gold,  with  letters,  initials,  monograms,  names, 
crests,  etc.,  of  any  design,  at  seven  days'  notice.  Also,  Glass  engraved  to  order, 
with  letters,  etc.    Also,  for  sale  Prepared  Colors  for  Painting  on  Porcelain. 

Oopeland  &  Minton's  Parian  Busts,  Statuettes,  G-roupes,  etc. 

Novelties  in  variety,  high  and  low  cost  pieces. 

BRIDAL  AND  BIRTHDAY  PRESENTS 

Of  over  1,000  varieties,  in  Glass,  Parian,  China,  Majolica,  Faience,  etc.  Table  Cut- 
lery, Silver  Plated  Spoons  and  Forks  of  the  most  reliable  manufactures.  Lowest 
market  values  always.    Call  and  examine  goods  and  prices. 

Store  Open  from  7  1-2  a.  m.  to  6  p.  m. 

JONES,  McDUFFEE  &  STRATTON. 

(Late  Otis  Norcross  &  Co.) 

COR.  FEDERAL  AND  FRANKLIN  STREETS,    -    -    -  BOSTON. 

C4) 


E.  BLAKESLEE  &  CO. 


GALLERIES, 

127  Tremont  Street,  Boston, 


MANUFACTURERS  OF 


Picture  Frames. 


AND  DEALERS  IN 


PAINTINGS, 

ENGRA  VINGS, 

CHROMOS, 

PHOTOGRAPHS, 

AND  OTHER  fInE  ART  GOODS. 

Our  facilities  for  the  manufacture  of  Picture  Frames  of  every  variety 
are  unsurpassed.  We  guarantee  satisfaction  in  every  case,  and  invite 
special  attention  to  the  Quality,  Style,  and  Prices  of  our  work. 

Special  terms  to  Artists  and  to  Students  of  the  Art  School. 

Our  Stock  of  Engravings,  Water-Colors,  Porcelains,  English 
Chromos,  Foreign  Photographs,  etc.,  has  been  carefully  selected 
for  the  Retail  Trade,  and  will  be  found  to  include  a  full  line  of  the 
most  popular  and  desirable  subjects  —  and  also  a  good  collection  of 
Old  and  Rare  Engravings  and  Etchings. 


E.  BL:>1KESLEE  &  CO.,  Fine  M  Dealers, 


Galleries,  127  Tremont  Street,  Boston 
(5) 


CROSBY.  MORSE  &  FOSS. 

DEALERS  IN 

DIAMONDS  Ap  OTHER  &EMS, 

RICH  JEWELRY, 
SILVER  WARE, 

AND  THE  CELEBRATED 

GoRHAM  Plated  Ware. 

AGENTS  FOR  THE 

EKEGREN  WATCHES, 

With  Reed's  Patent  Micrometer  Regulator, 

BY  WHICH  WATCHES  CAN  BE  EEGULATED   WITH   GREATER   EASE  AND 
EXACTNESS  THAN  BY  ANY  OTHER  METHOD. 

444  WASHINGTON  STREET,  BOSTON. 

(6) 


HENRY  A.  TURNER  &  CO. 


FDf  ITUBE  Ap  UPHOLSTEflY 


Interior  Decorators, 

Rooms  over  JTos.  25, 27,  29  S  31  West  St., 


ENTRANCE,  \ 
NO.  31.  5 


BOSTON. 


Furniture  for  Drawing  Rooms,  Libraries,  Dining  Rooms, 
Chambers,  and  Halls  kept  in  Store. 

Choice  Fabrics  for  Coverings  and  Draperies  in  stock  and 
being  received. 


FINITIE  OF  AIL  KIIS  MABE  TO  OEBEE, 


Draperies,  Curtains,  and  Shades  made  and  put  up. 


OLD  FURNITURE  UPHOLSTERED  &  REPAIRED. 


HENRY  A.  TURNER. 


FREDERICK  W.  TURNER 


(7) 


Lawrence.  Wilde  &  Co. 

42  CORNHILL,  BOSTON, 

Manufacturers  of  First-class 

FURNITURE 

AND 

INTERIOR  FINISHING 

FOR 

Houses,  Stores,  Banking  Rooms,  and  Offices. 
DESIGNS,  WORKING  PLANS,  AND  ESTIMATES 

FURNISHED  TO  ARCHITECTS  AND  BUILDERS. 

We  keep  in  stock  a  full  line  of  FURNITURE,  a  large  and  complete  stock  of 
the  latest  styles  of 

Upholstery  Goods, 

THE  VERY  BEST 

HAIR  MATTRESSES  AND  SPRING  BEDS 

OF  OUR  OWN  MANUFACTURE. 

FRENCH  PLATE  MIRRORS, 

with  FRAMES  MADE  IN  OUR  OWN  FACTORY,  and  all  goods  usually  found  in  a  com- 
plete establishment. 

2^  ALL  WORK  GUARANTEED  AND  PROTECTED. 

(8) 


FROST  &  ADAMS, 


IMPORTERS  AND  DEALERS  IN 


ARTISTS' 


Materials 


OF  EVERY  DESCRIPTION. 


MjlTHEMjlTICjlL  INSTfMEfiTS, 


Architects^  Engineers,  and  Surveyors 
Stationery y  etc*  etc. 

33  AND  35  CORNHILL, 

BOSTON. 

(») 


ESTABLISHED  184S. 


w.  J.  Mcpherson, 

440  Tremont  Street, 

INTERIOR  DECORATOR, 

Painter  and  Designer. 

W.  J.  MCPHERSON  &  CO. 

Stained  and  Mosaic 

FOR 

Ecclesiastical  and  Domestic  Purposes, 

440  TREMONT  STREET. 

(10) 


WALL  PAPERS  that  illustrate  correct  principles  in 
mural  decoration,  —  tasteful,  appropriate,  decorative,  not  pic- 
torial ;  serviceable  and  at  reasonable  prices. 

PARQUETRY  FLOORS  of  « wood-carpeting,"  manufac- 
tured from  woods  1-4  of  an  inch  thick,  thoroughly  seasoned  and 
kiln-dried,  backed  with  canvas,  the  wood  and  canvas  being  firmly- 
united  in  the  most  durable  manner.  When  securely  nailed  to 
an  ordinary  floor  and  finished  with  oil  and  shellac,  it  is  imper- 
vious to  water  and  gives  all  the  advantages  of  a  thick  floor  at 
half  the  cost.  It  is  superior  to  a  thick  floor  in  being  less  liable 
to  be  warped  by  furnace  heat  or  by  the  extreme  changes  of 
our  New  England  climate.* 

J.  F.  BUMSTEAD  &  CO. 

148  Tremont  Street,  comer  of  West, 
BOSTor^r. 

Agents  for  William  Morris  &  Co.,  of  London. 

Cli) 


Messrs.  WILLIAMS  &  EVERETT 

Respectfully  invite  the  attention  of  all  who  desire  PICTURES  or  PICTURE 
FRAMES  to  the  unusual  facilities  offered  by  their  present  establishment, 

508  WASHINGTON  STREET, 

(3  &  5  Bedford  Street,)  BOSTON. 

Their  Stock  is  one  of  the  largest  in  the  country,  and  includes 

FINE  PAINTINGS, 

Foreign  and  American. 

CHOICE  ENGRAVINGS, 

Old  and  Hare  Impressions,  and  Modem, 

SELECT  PHOTOGRAPHS 

Of  Scenery,  Buildings,  and  Pictures* 

CHROMO-LITHOGRAPHS, 

French,  German,  English,  and  American, 

CARBONS, 

Braun's  Celehrated  Reproductions. 

PORCELAINS, 

Copies  of  Fine  Pictures. 

AGENTS  FOR 

ROGERS'  STATUARY  GROUPS. 


Special  attention  given  to  Framing  in  neat  and  artistic  styles, 
and  prices  as  low  as  same  quality  of  work  in  any  city. 

FINE  ART  ROOMS, 

508  WASHINGTON  STREET. 

(8  &  8  BEDFORD.) 

WILLIAMS  &  EVERETT. 

(12) 


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A  DICTIONARY  OF  AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHY.  Including  Men  of  the 
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native  and  foreign  birth,  who  have  been  remarkable,  or  prominently  connected 
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nent. Giving  also  the  pronunciation  of  many  of  the  foreign  and  peculiar  Amer- 
ican names,  a  Key  to  the  assumed  names  of  writers,  with  a  supplement.  By 
Francis  S.  Drake.  8vo.  1019  double-column  pages.  Cloth,  ^6.00 ;  sheep, 
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A  TREASURY  OF  THOUGHT.    An  Encyclopaedia  of  Quotations  from  Ancient 
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"  The  most  complete  and  exhaustive  volume  of  the  kind  with  which  we  are 
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A  DICTIONARY  OF  THE  NOTED  NAMES  OF  FICTION.    By  William 
A.  Wheeler.  ^2.50. 
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DR.  ARNOLD'S  {of  Rugby)  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE.     By  Dean 
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MATTHEW  ARNOLD'S  ESSAYS  IN  CRITICISM.  Eleven  Essays,  Bio- 
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Life,  $1.50.     Character  and   Characteristic  Men,  $1.50.     Literature  of  the 
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interest. 

For  sale  by  all  Booksellers.  Sent,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  the  price,  by 
the  Publishers, 

JAMES  R.  OSGOOD  &  CO.,  BOSTON. 


HELIOTYPES  OF  RARE  ENGRAVINGS. 

By  the  Heliotype  Process  are  produced  perfect  fac-similes  of  rare  and  valuable 
engravings,  masterpieces  of  the  world's  most  famous  artists,  —  Diirer,  Rembrandt, 
Marc  Antonio,  Toschi,  Muller,  Raphael,  Titian,  Correggio,  Guido,  Leonardo  da 
Vinci,  Murillo,  Velazquez,  Vandyck,  and  others  of  equal  renown.  Rare  etchings  or 
artist-proof  engravings,  worth  hundreds  of  dollars  each,  are  reproduced  and  sold  at 
prices  varying  from  fifty  cents  to  two  or  three  dollars,  thus  bringing  the  treasures  of 
art-galleries  within  the  reach  of  all  and  affording  a  means  of  art-education  hitherto 
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2:^='  Send  for  Catalogue  of  Heliotypes. 

JAMESR.  OSGOOD  &  CO.,  131  Franklin  St,,  -  -  -  -  BOSTON. 

(13) 


DOE  &  HUNNEWELL 

Invite  attention  to  their  very  large  assortment  of  new  styles  of  FUR- 
NITURE of  their  own  manufacture,  for  Parlors,  Dining  Rooms,  Libra- 
ries and  Chambers,  at  their  Warerooms, 

198  AND  200  TREMONT  ST..  BOSTON. 

Occupying  the  entire  building  adjoining  the  Hotel  Boylston  as  Sales- 
rooms, we  are  enabled  to  display  a  stock  of  FINE  FUR- 
NITURE unexcelled  by  any  in  this  city. 

Drapery  Curt/ius,  L/ce  CuRTAiiis,  Shades,  etc. 

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trade.  Cabinet  Work  designed  and  executed  to  order  of  every  de- 
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watches,  clocks,  diamonds, 


No.  122  Tremont  Street, 


Opposite  Park  Street  Church. 


RARE    GEMS   A  SPECIALTY, 

(14) 


PROF.  WALTER  SMITH'S  SYSTEM  OF 


INDUSTRIAL  AND  ARTISTIC  DRAWING. 

The  following  Diagram  shows  the  order  and  gradation  of  Prof.  Walter  Smith's  System  of  Draw- 
ing._  It  will  be  observed  that  the  course  of  instruction  develops  logically  according  to  the  progress  of 
pupils  ;  and  it  will  also  be  noted  that  the  whole  cost  per  pupil  for  books  and  cards  for  the  first  eight 
years  of  this  course,  or  till  pupils  reach  the  High  School,  is  only  $3.75. 

Particular  attention  is  invited  to  the  definite  objects  aimed  at  in  this  systemi  and  the  practical 
character  of  the  instruction  in  the  Grammar  and  High  School  Courses. 


PRIMARY  COURSE. 

Comprising  Teachers'  Manual,  $1.00,  and  two  series  of 
Cards  at  15  cents  each.  This  course  is  for  the  first  three 
years  in  Primary  Schools.  Drawings  to  be  made  on  slates- 
Cost  per  pupil  for  the  course,  30  cents. 

It  teaches  the  simplest  elements.  Beginning  with  lines  and 
geometrical  forms,  it  teaches  the  elements  of  symmetrical 
arrangement  of  forms  and  methods  of  working  ;  conven- 
tional and  natural  forms  ;  drawingfrom  dictation,  memory 
drawing,  and  elementary  design.  In  short,  this  course 
lays  the  foundation. 


INTERMEDIATE  COURSE 

Comprising  Teachers'  Manual,  $1.25,  and  three  Drawing  Books,  at  15 
cents  each.  This  course  is  for  the  fourth  year's  study.  Pupils  begin 
to  draw  on  paper.    Cost  per  pupil  for  the  course,  45  cents. 

It  reviews  the  Primary  Course,  and  enlarges  the  instruction  of  each  fea- 
ture, and  adds  instruction  in  the  elements  of  Conventionalization,  His- 
torical Ornament,  and  drawing  from  objects  by  freehand. 


GRAMMAR  COURSE. 

Comprising  Teachers'  Manual,  $z-oo,  and  twelve  Drawing  Books  at  25  cents  each. 
This  course  is  for  the  5th,  6th,  7th,  and  8th  years'  study,  and  the  drawing  is  both 
freehand  and  instrumental.    Cost  per  pupil  for  the  four  years'  course,  $3.00. 


FREEHAND  DIVISION. 
The  Freehand  Drawing  is  applied  to 
Historical  Ornament,  Model  and  Ob- 
ject Drawing,  and  Botanical  Analysis  ; 
and  instruction  is  given  in  the  leading 
Historical  styles  of  Decoration  and 
Original  Design. 


INSTRUMENTAL  DIVISION. 
In  Instrumental  Drawing  problems  are 
given  in  Plane  Geometry,  as  the  basis 
of  all  Mechanical  Drawing,  and  also 
in  Parallel  and  Angular  Perspective. 


HIGH  SCHOOL  COURSE. 

(in  preparation.) 

This  course  is  in  a  measure  elective,  that  is,  pupils  should  be  allowed  a  choice  of  subjects.  The 
previous  instruction  prepares  pupils  for  each  branch  of  this  course.  The  text-books  will  be  of 
the  same  size  and  price  as  those  belonging  to  the  Grammar  course. 

THE  COURSE  WILL  COMPRISE:  — 


FREEHAND  DIVISION. 
Model  and  Object  Drawing  in  outline,  and  m 
light   and   shade,  from  text-books  and 
mounted  copies. 
Figure  Drawing  from  mounted  copies  and 
from  cast. 

Historical  Ornament,  in  light  and  shade, 

from  the  cast. 
The  same  in  color  from  colored  examples. 
Historical  Styles  of  Decoration  contrasted. 
Botanical  Analyses  from  plants,  in  color. 
Applied  Design- 
Landscape  Drawing  from  examples. 


INSTRUMENTAL  DIVISION. 
Advanced  Perspective  Drawing  from  text-books 
and  objects. 
Mechanical  Drawing  from  text-books  and 

objects. 

Machine  Drawing  from  text-books  and  ex- 
amples. 

Architectural  Drawing  and  Building  Con- 
struction, from  text-books  and  examples. 


L.    PRANG    &  COMPANY, 

ART  AND  EDUCATIONAL  PUBLISHERS, 
BOSTON,  MASS. 

(15) 


Books  on  Art 

PUBLISHED  BY 

ROBERTS  BROTHERS,    -   -  BOSTON. 


LAOCOON.  An  Essay  upon  the  Limits  of  Painting  and  Poetry.  With  remarks  illustrative  of 
various  points  in  the  History  of  Ancient  Art.  By  GottBold  Ephraim  Lhssing.  Translated 
by  Ellen  Frothingham.  One  volume,  i6mo,  with  pictorial  title  representing  the  Laocoon. 
Price  $1.50. 

"  The  incomparable  little  book.  .  .  .  Its  effect  upon  Goethe  can  only  be  appreciated  by  those  who, 
early  in  life,  have  met  with  this  work,jand  risen  from  it  with  minds  widened,  strengthened,  and  inspired. 
It  opened  a  pathway  amid  confusion,  throwing  light  upon  many  of  the  obscurest  problems  which  tor- 
inent  the  artist.  .  .  .  Lord  Macaulay  told  me  that  the  reading  of  this  little  book  formed  'an  epochj  in 
his  mental  history,  and  that  he  learned  more  ahput  Art  from  it  than  he  had  ever  learned  elsewhere." 
—  Lewes' s  Life  of  Goethe. 

_  "  We  wish  it  were  a  text-book  in  the  colleges,  for  in  addition  to  the  excellence  of  its  contents,  it 
is,  in  respect  to  its  style  and  method,  a  specimen  of  the  best  sort  of  writing." —  Boston  Daily  Adver- 
tiser, 

*'  The  essay  is  worthy  a  place  in  every  library,  since  it  will  greatly  assist  any  intelligent  reader  in 
his  comprehension  and  criticism  of  both  ancient  and  modern  art ;  but  especially  it  should  be  studied 
by  every  poet  who  has  a  story  to  tell,  every  sculptor  who  would  make  a  statue,  and  every  painter  who 
would  pamt  a  picture."  —  L.  C.  M.^  in  the  New  York  Tribune. 

THOUGHTS  ABOUT  ART.  By  Philip  Gilbert  Hamrrton.  New  edition,  revised,  with  Notes 
and  an  Introduction.  One  handsome  volume,  uniform  with  Hamerton's  "  Intellectual  Life." 
Price  $2.00. 

"  Fortunate  is  he  who,  at  an  early  age,  knows  what  Art  is  "  —  Goethe. 

*'  Mr.  Hamerton  is  a  landscape  painter  whose  eminence  has  been  won  by  long  years  of  labor.  He 
has  spent  season  after  season  in  the  wildest  parts  of  the  Scotch  Highlands ;  he  has  painted  in  all  sorts 
of  weather  and  at  every  degree  of  temperature,  and  he  has  overcome  the  difficulties  of  his  profession 
by  the  invention  of  a  hut  for  winter  and  a  tent  for  summer,  so  admirably  constructed  that  we  long  to  be 
with  him  while  he  is  defying  the  violence  of  the  storm,  and  watching  through  his  broad  glass  window, 
with  quick  eye  and  ready  pencil,  the  tempestuous  paonrama  before  him.  .  .  .  Secure  of  his  position, 
and  possessing  the  literary  facility  so  seldom  found  in  his  craft,  he  has  written  this  book  to  tell  the 
world,  if  only  it  will  listen,  how  noble  and  serious  a  profession  is  Art."  —  Lippincotfs  Magazine. 

A  PAINTER'S  CAMP.    By  Philip  Gilbert  Hamerton.    In  Three  Books.  Book  I,  in  England  ; 

Book  II,  In  Scotland;  Book  III,  In  France.    One  volume.    i6mo.    Price  $1.50. 

*' They  (*  A  Painter's  Camp  in  the  Highlands'  and 'Thoughts  About  Art')  are  the  most  useful 
books  that  could  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  American  art  public.  If  we  were  asked  where  the 
most  intelligent,  the  most  trustworthy,  the  most  practical,  and  the  most  interesting  exposition  of  mod- 
ern art  and  cognate  subjects  is  to  be  found,  we  should  point  to  Hamerton's  writings."  —  Atlantic 
Monthly. 

THE  UNKNOWN  RIVER:  An  Etcher's  Voyage  of  Discovery.  By  Philip  Gilbert  Hamerton. 
With  thirty-seven  etchings  by  the  author.    8vo,  cloth,  gilt.    Price  ^6.oo. 

CHRISTIAN  ART  AND  SYMBOLISM.  With  some  Hints  on  the  Study  of  Landscape.  By  R. 
St.  John  Tyrwhitt.  With  an  Introduction  by  Ruskin,  and  Illustrations.  One  volume.  i2mo. 
Price  $2.00. 

By  the  Author  of  "  Christian  Art  and  Symbolism." 
OUR  SKETCHING  CLUB.    Letters  and  Studies  on  Landscape  Art.    With  an  authorized  Repro- 
duction of  the  Lessons  and  Woodcuts  in  Professor  Rusk i n' "  Elements  of  Drawing."  8vo. 
Price  $2.50. 

This  book  is  in  the  form  of  a  narrative,  and  is  the  doings  of  a  supposed  Sketching  Club,  their  let- 
ters, talks,  and  essays  on  various  art  subjects,  —  nearly  all  practical  ones,  —  such  as  would  be  likely  to 
be  exchanged  between  fairly  good  critics  and  well  educated  men  and  women.  It  is  a  handsome  8vo 
volume,  with  numerous  illustrations. 

THE  OLD  MASTERS  AND  THEIR  PICTURES.    By  Sarah  Tvtlbr.   Author  of  "Papers 

for  Thoughtful  Girls."  i6mo,  cloth.  Price  #1.50. 
MODERN  PAINTERS  AND  THEIR  PAINTINGS.  By  Sarah  Tytler.  Author  of  "  Papers 

for  Thoughtful  Girls."    i6mo,  cloth.    Price  $1.50. 

By  the  Author  ot  "The  Old  Masters"  and  *' Modern  Painters." 

MUSICAL  COMPOSERS  AND  THEIR  WORKS.  By  Sarah  Tytler.  i6mo.  Price  ^2.00. 
"  Distinctively  gossipy  and  very  entertaining.    Lovers  of  music,  who  read  for  entertainment,  will 

heartily  enjoy  these  bright  and  minute  sketches  of  the  great  composers  ;  in  point  of  readableness  they 

are  not  surpassed  by  any  similar  sketches  m  recent  literature,"  says  The  (Boston)  Literary  ]Vorld. 

THORVALDSEN  :  His  Life  and  Works.  By  Eugene  Plon.  Translated  from  the  French  by 
I.  M.  Luyster.  Illustrated  by  two  Heliotypes  fram  Steel  Engravmgs  by  F.  Gaillard,  and 
Thirty-five  of  the  Master's  Qompositions,  drawn  by  F.  Gaillard,  and  engraved  on  wood  by 
Cabonneau.  Second  American  Edition.  One  handsome  square  8vo  volume,  cloth,  gilt  and 
black  lettered,  gilt  top,  bevelled  boards.    Price  ^54.00. 

Our  Publications  are  sold  by  all  booksellers.    Mailed^  postpaid^  by  the  Publishers^ 

ROBERTS  BROTHERS,  Boston. 

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